
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



MANUAL OF INSTRUCTION 



IN 



HARD SOLDERING 



a 



BY 



HARVEY ROWELL. 




^ DEC 2p/^^j /Of 



E. & F. N. SPON & CO., 

12 CORTLANDT STREET, ISTeW YoRK. 

London, 125 Strand. 
1891. 



<^>^^ 






COPYRIGHT. 1884, 
BY HARVEY ROWELL. 



.^^ 



CONTENTS. 

Introduction. 
Chapter I.— Utensils and Chemicals. 

THE FLAME 8 

LAMP 8 

CHARCOAL 9 

MATS 9 

BLOWPIPES 10 

WASH-BOTTLE 10 

BINDING WIRE 12 

BORAX 13 

CHEMICALS 14 

Chapter II. — Alloys for Hard Soldering. 

SPELTER 14 

SILVER SOLDER 16 

GOLD SOLDER 17 

Chapter III. — Oxidation, 

OXIDATION OF METALS IS 

FLUXES 19 

ANTI-OXIDIZERS 20 

Chapter IV. — Structure of Flame. 

OXIDATION OF GASES 21 

THE CONE 22 

OXIDIZING FLAME 22 

REDUCING FLAME 23 

Chapter V. — Heat. 

TRANSMISSION 25 

CONDUCTION 26 

CAPACITY OF METALS 27 

RADIATION 27 

AT'PLICATION 28 



IV. 

Chapter VI. — The Process. 

THE WORK TABLE 29 

THE JOINT 30 

APPLYING SOLDER 30 

APPLYING HEAT 31 

THE USE OF THE BLOWPIPE 31 

MAKING A FERRULE 32 

JOINTS 34 

TO REPAIR A SPOON 35 

DIFFICULTIES 36 

Chapter VII.— The Process — Continued. 

TO REPAIR A WATCH CASE S7 

HARD SOLDERING WITH A FORGE OR HEARTH 40 

HARD SOLDERING WITH TONGS 41 

Chapter VIII. — Technical Notes. 

PRESERVING THIN EDGES 42 

SILVERSMITH'S PICKLE 43 

RESTORING COLOR TO GOLD 43 

CHROMIC ACID 44 

STEEL SPRINGS, TO MEND 45 

SWEATING METALS TOGETHER 45 

RETAINING WORK IN POSITION 46 

MAKING JOINTS 46 

APPLYING HEAT 47 

PREVENTING THE LOSS OF HEAT 48 

EFFECT OF SULPHUR, LEAD AND ZINC 49 

TO PRESERVE PRECIOUS STONES 60 

ANNEALING AND HARDENING 61 

BURNT IRON 52 

TO HARD SOLDER AFTER SOFT SOLDER 52 

Chapter IX. — Properties of Metals. 

TABLE OF SPECIFIC GRAVITY 63 

TABLE OF TENACITY 63 

TABLE OF FUSIBILITY 64 

FUSIBILITY OF ALLOYS 64 

Index. 






Inl:posluG[:ion.)i( 



A knowledge of the uses of heat makes the nation civ- 
ilized; enables man to progress. Just in proportion as 
the knowledge of the processes depending upon the laws of 
heat have become disseminated, so have nations grown in 
importance and advanced in civilization. 

In our age, in construction of forms in metal, heat is indis- 
pensable. The fundamental processes of casting, anneal- 
ing, welding and soldering metals underly the other arts 
and depend upon scientific research for improvement. 
The products of these arts, as shown in the tools of the 
artisan, instruments of the surgeon, engineer, astronomer, 
and the apparatus of the chemist, add to the facilities for 
investigating the laws of nature, a knowledge of which in 
turn enables the maker of implements and manipulator of 
processes to also improve. 

To unite pieces of metal already having solidity and 
form, in a firm and substantial manner, making the whole 
as one solid piece, has always been one of the processes 
most useful to man. Although not particularly hard to 
acquire, a thorough knowledge of it has been enjoyed by 
few in comparison with its every day usefulness and im- 
portance. 

The rapid changes that are taking place in mechanical 



6 HARD SOLDERING. 

engineering cause a demand for men who understand the 
arts of construction, men who have a scientific knowledge 
of the laws that underlie their skill, and who are able to 
adapt the state of the art to new wants. Having no rigid 
system of apprenticeship in this country, and but few 
schools where the mechanical arts are taught practically, 
the young man is often left to accidental resources to ac- 
quire a knowledge of the useful arts. 

With the rapid development of new inventions comes a 
class of young men having the genius for mechanical in- 
vention who desire to be able to construct the devices for 
their experiments, but who do not want to serve a term of 
years at*any one trade. Since hard soldering or brazing 
is often a fundamental process in the construction of 
models, they are often left to weak or clumsy devices to 
bridge over a lack of knowledge of that process. 

Among the jewelers, gunsmiths, makers of surgical, 
mathematical, optical and philosophical instruments, watch- 
makers and occasionally the dentists, it has been handed 
down from one generation to another, each one teaching it 
as adapted to his own requirements, so useful is it in nearly 
all branches of mechanical construction. 

Much that is published in this little work may be new 
only to the beginner, and may not add materially to the 
skill of the experienced workman in his own department 
of industry, nevertheless it is well to compare notes, and 
if only one little point is gained it will be worth to the 
practitioner the cost of so inexpensive a volume. To the 
perso'.i having use for, and seeking such information as it 
sontains I hope it may prove invaluable. I ask of the ap- 
orentice or amateur into whose hands it may fall that they 



INTRODUCTION. 7 

study it thoroughly, and then use the information gained 
as a stepping stone to the acquisition of further informa- 
tion and improvement by observation and experiment. 
Pleasure in work is derived from the ability to do it well. 
Be thorough, persevering, observing. 



CHAPTER I. 
UTBP^SIIvS ANO CHEMICAI.S. 

Any clear flame inaj be used for hard soldering with a 
blowpipe. That of illuminating gas is to be preferred if 
obtainable. Away from cities where gas is common, the 
alcohol lamp is most used. Several kinds of lamps are 
now sold that are adapted to the wants of the trade, but 
if these are not at hand a tinner can soon make one. It 
should hold at least 4 oz. of alcohol, and have a wick tube 
attached near the bottom not much less than one-half inch 
in diameter. The top of the wick tube should be cut off 
obliquely, the left side, as it sits facing you, being the 
lowest. The wick, when saturated, should be so tight that, 
although it may be moved up or down in the tube, it will 
remain in any position. The wick tube must have a cap 
fitting snugly, to cover the end of the wick when not in 
use. The size of the lamp should correspond with the 
size of the work and amount of heat required. Blast 
lamps, furnaces and hearths are now sold, a description of 
which I leave to the manufacturers. 

The lamp should never be filled quite full of alcohol, it 
being liable at any time when in use to become warm, thus 
expanding the alcohol and causing it to overflow or blow 
out the wick. 

The beginner should form the habit of covering the wick 
as soon as it is blown out. If left exposed to the air the 
alcohol evaporates, leaving the water it contains at the end 
of the wick, rendering it hard to light. 



UTENSILS AND CHEMICALS. 9 

For gas, the Bunsen burner, with blowpipe tube, is to 
be obtained from dealers in chemical wares. 

A few pieces of charcoal should be provided on which 
to lay the work to be soldered. Select that which is well 
burned and is not too strong through the grain of the wood. 
The charcoal made from the softer close grained woods or 
roots is best, since if it is well burned it is not liable to 
crack and throw sparks with the first heat. Some pieces 
of coal will continue to burn when laid away if a spark of 
fire be left unextinguished. The workman will therefore 
be careful when leaving his work to examine the coal he 
has been using, and as a further safeguard to cover the 
table top with sheet metal or slate, where the coal is laid. 

For some kinds of work a mat made of old pieces of 
binding wire, on which to lay the work, is used. Its ad- 
vantage is that it presents a uniform surface to lay work 
on, and in not burning away. Asbestos cloth answers 
the same purpose. Charcoal, on the other hand, has sev- 
eral useful qualities peculiar to itself. Pins may be stuck 
into it to retain in position the pieces to be united. It 
may be cut into shape to fit the work or to hold melted 
metals. In burning, it unites with the surplus oxygen 
surrounding the work, and increasing the heat. 

Blow'pipe. — Those offered for sale are so cheap and an- 
swer the purpose so well that others are not commonly 
used. They are described as "plain" and "with ball." 
Some prefer a plain one, and for soft soldering, or jobs re- 
quiring but a short blast are advantageous, since they dry 
out quicker than those with a bulb. For a long continued 

blast, those with a bulb are preferable, since the chamber 
2 



10 HARD SOLDERING. 

holds for a time the condensed vapor from the breath. li 
the bulb does not unscrew to empty, and a series of long 
continued blasts are to be made, after each blast the bulb 
should be held over the flame until the moisture is ex- 
pelled. 

Brass, if well nickel plated is preferable to silver, by 
reason of its being a poorer conductor of heat. The tip 
should be platinum, having an orifice of a size suitable to 
the work. It is well to have the mouth piece plated with 
silver or gold, or if the workman likes he may make a 
ferrule of horn, ivory, silver or gold and put on. It is 
sometimes convenient to have the mouth piece square, as 
it can then be held in position by the teeth for a short 
time if it is necessary to use both hands. 

I once made a blowpipe in a few minutes by simply 
bending a piece of glass tube over the flame of the lamp, 
to the desired angle, then drawing to a point and break- 
ing off until the aperture was the right size, usually about 
one-fiftieth of an inch. Its smooth tapering nozzle gave a 
very nice jet, better than that of any metal one, according 
to my experience. A form of blowpipe not usual in the 
Fig. ). trade is described in Eliot and Storer's 

Chemical Analysis. The construction 
^f ^ t.i I tt^'f\ can be seen from the accompanying Fig. 
^"^^^^=^1 1. The tip should be drilled out of a 
solid piece of platinum or brass, and 
should not be fastened on with a screw. 



Wash-bottle. — Next to the apparatus 
for increasing the temperature comes 
that for reducing it. A fine jet of water is often useful 



UTENSILS AND CHEMICALS. 



11 



for cooling portions of the work and for putting out the fire 
on charcoal. For these purposes I find the chemists' wash 
bottle very convenient. 

To construct one, procure an open mouthed bottle that 
will hold at least a half pint, a cork to fit, and a piece of 
quarter inch glass tube, twice as long as the bottle. At 
about the length of the bottle and two inches more hold 
the tube over the flame of the lamp, rolling it slowly over 
in the flame until it becomes red, then pull it out length- 
wise until it parts. Break the thread from the end of the 
measured off piece, leaving a hole large enough to insert an 
ordinary pin. Ram the hole in the tube full of dry sand 
and hold in the flame about two inches from the small end, 
rolling over as before until red hot, then bend to an angle 
of about 60° or somewhat farther than square. 

Cut the tapering point off the other piece with the corner 
of a file and fill with sand as before. At about two inches 
from the end, bend to an angle of 120° or not quite square. 
Cut off the longer end so as to leave it about two and one- 
half inches long and insert the und in the flame, as also 
the sharpened end of a slate pencil. When the glass be- 
comes pliable insert the end of the pencil in the hole in 
the tube, and rolling both while the 
pencil is gradually pressed to an angle 
with the tube, spread the end into a 
flaring mouthpiece. 

Make two holes in the cork and insert 
the tubes; the longer end so that it will 
reach near the bottom of the bottle. 
See Figures 2 and 3. Insert the other 1 
nearly through the cork and leaving the "^ 




12 



HARD SOLDERING. 



bent ends in line, cover the surface of the cork with sealing 
wax. 

If the bottle be now filled with water, and the cork in- 
serted, when you blow in the mouthpiece, the pressure of 
the air on the water will force a stream of water from the 
nozzle. 

A one-half pint three necked Woulff bottle makes a 
Fig. 3. good wash bottle, as shown in Figure 3. 

A tube is inserted in each of the 
outer necks while the middle one is 
used to fill through, and saves the neces- 
sity of removing the corks having tubes 
in, when it is necessary to replenish. 

It is also an improvement to make a 
metal elbow for the discharge pipe, 
from which the nozzle may be removed to clean. Clear 
water only should be used in the bottle. Floating particles, 
if larger than the aperture in the nozzle, are caught there 
and stop or clog the stream. 




Binding Wire. — Get the best annealed iron binding 
wire. For light work see that it is fine about No. 32, and 
is not tinned. The tinned wire may be used on steel or 
brass but should never be used on gold or silver. If no 
other is convenient, remove the tin by drawing it between 
pieces of No. emery paper and anneal by drawing it 
slowly through the flame of the lamp, heating it to a dull 
red as it passes through. If the work is too heavy for a 
single wire double and twist the light wire. 



UTENSILS AND CHEMICALS. 13 

Borax. (Sodae Boras— Biborate of Soda.) Buy al- 
ways the besi7 in the market. It should be well crjstal- 
ized and in irregular shaped lumps. The surface should 
not be white or chalky, as that appearance indicates that 
either the borax or some of its impurities have commenced 
fo oxydize. 

It is liable to be adulterated with alum or salt, and 
sometimes contains sulphate of potash, sulphate of soda or 
sulphate of magnesia from which it has not been properly 
purified. Any of them are deleterious. The importance 
of having borax of good quality is so great in proportion 
to the amount used, that the difference in price is insig- 
nificant. When good is not to be obtained it may some- 
times be improved by melting to a glass with the blowpipe 
flame, then dissolving in water and evaporating the water, 
thus oxidizing a portion of the impurities. 

The useful properties of the borax are that it melts be- 
fore the solder and flows over the parts to be united, pro- 
tecting their surfaces and the solder from the oxygen of 
the air. It also has an affinity for metallic oxides with 
which it unites, keeping the metallic surfaces clean for the 
flow of the solder, as will be explained more fully here- 
after. 

It is sometimes calcined (melted and pulverized) before 
using. 

It is conveniently prepared for use by rubbing on a piece 
of slate with a drop of water until it forms a paste. 

The jeweler should add to the articles mentioned a pair 
of tweezers, some plaster of Paris, some pieces of black 
lead, a piece of raw potato or apple. Those who work 
gold and silver will need some chemical reagents, viz: 



14 HARD SOLDERING. 

Nitric Acid, 

Sulphuric Acid, 

Bichromate of Potash, 
Saltpetre, 

Ammonia, 

Yellow Ochre, (kc, 
the uses of which will be explained in other connections. 



CHAPTER II. 
AI^I^OYS FOR HARO SOIvDBRIIVG. 

Every workman should learn to make his own hard sol- 
der, since in many instances he can expect success not 
only by a thorough knowledge of the properties of the ma- 
terials to be united but also of the metal he proposes to 
flow on them. 

In the department of soldering called brazing^ spelter 
solder is used. It is composed of equal parts of copper 
and zinc. The copper should be put in a crucible and 
heated to a red heat, with a flux composed of charcoal dust 
and borax, then add the zinc. If the zinc be put in at 
first it will evaporate or "burn out" before the copper 
melts. If heated too hot after melting the zinc will evap- 
orate, passing into the air and coating surrounding objects 
with white, feathery flakes. If kept melted long a little 
more zinc should be added if the solder is to be used on 
brass, but for iron considerable zinc may burn out before 
it deteriorates. It is cast in ingots, heated red and ham- 



ALLOYS. 15 

mered while hot. If too hot it will cake, but if at just the 
right temperature it will granulate into fine, lustrous par- 
ticles, not loosing their metallic yellow color. 

It is used on brass, copper, iron or steel, with a blow- 
pipe or a forge. 

Silver solder is composed of silver, copper and zinc. 
The silver imparts to the solder strength, malleability 
and protection from oxidizing. The copper tenacity and 
malleability. The zinc lends fusibility. 

The object in making a silver solder, is to so alloy a 
metal that it may be strong, malleable, not liable to oxi- 
dize, and fusible. The difficulties to be encountered are 
that an easily fusible metal is not strong and tenacious, 
and when alloyed with a metal of hard fusibility, produces 
a brittle alloy. The brittleness is not relieved by reduc- 
ing the quantity of the fusible metal, since an alloy com- 
posed of a large quantity of a metal that is hard to fuse 
and a small quantity of one easily fused is more brittle 
than if the metals are in reverse proportions. 

An alloy of silver in large proportion and zinc would be 
easily fused and hard to oxidize, but brittle. We there- 
fore retain enough of the silver to prevent oxidation, re- 
duce the zinc as much as possible and retain the property 
of easy fusion, and add copper to get strength and tenacity. 

The proportions for a good hard solder are about, Sil- 
ver 18, Copper 4, Zinc 1, by weight. They may be al- 
loyed in a crucible, and if done so, should have the silver 
and copper melted together first with just heat enough to 
make them unite, under a flux of borax. Then add the 
zinc and pour into an ingot mould immediately. Or, coin 
silver may be melted first, and one-third its weight of 



16 HARD SOLDERING. 

spring brass, cut up in fine pieces, added. Pour as soon 
as it presents a clean smooth surface. Put in borax as 
before for a flux. It should be cast thin and rolled with- 
out annealing. 

If you want a little for your own use, and do not care 
to keep it on hand a long time, weigh out 3 or 4 penny- 
weights of coin silver and one half as much of clean 
spring brass. I say spring brass because that is an alloy 
of copper 2 parts, zinc 1 part, by weight. It is a light 
yellow color. Red brass should be avoided. Cut the 
brass in thin shreds. In a piece of charcoal cut a hollow 
near one side about the size of a teaspoon bowl. Put the 
silver in and add a little borax. Melt the silver with the 
reducing flame of the blowpipe. (Chapter IV.) Add the 
brass and keep a gentle flame on until the brass is absorb- 
ed and it presents a clean smooth globule and no longer. 
Lay down your blowpipe and pick up a flat piece of iron 
not less than a sixteenth of an inch thick. Place the iron 
on the edge of the charcoal and rock it over on the melted 
globule so as to flatten and cool it at the same time. Put 
it through the rolls or otherwise make a sheet of it, but 
do not anneal it. Heating the surface oxidizes the copper, 
evaporates the zinc and makes it harder to flow. For 
convenience the same strip may be rolled to diiferent 
thicknesses to suit the work on which it is to be used. 

If for any reason it is to be remelted, a small piece of 
zinc should be added while in a state of fusion to take the 
place of that evaporated. Too much zinc causes it to 
lose strength and to turn dark when exposed to the air. 

Some add a three-fourths part of metallic arsenic to 
make the solder more white and fusible. It also makes it 



ALLOYS. 17 

more brittle and the fumes from the arsenic must be avoid- 
ed since they are deleterious. If used it should be added 
at the last moment. 

Articles of gold are sometimes soldered with gold of a 
lower grade. For 22 carat gold, add to a pennyweight of 
the gold 2 grains of silver and 1 grain of copper, and the 
same proportion of silver and copper for gold of 18, 16 or 
14 carats, with which to solder them. For the manufacture 
of articles that are to be exposed for any length of time 
to the action of acids, as in dental work, they should be 
used. For articles of ornament and for the repair of 
jewelry, spring brass may be used instead of the silver 
and copper, making a solder of good color and more easily 
fused. Some use with coin gold, the same proportion of 
brass as for silver solder. The same precaution should 
be used in making as for silver solder, to add the brass, 
which contains the more fusible metal, zinc, last, and to 
cool as soon as alloyed, to prevent the volatilization of the 
zinc. 

Gold of a fineness of 12 carats or less may be soldered 
with 10 or 12 carat gold to which about 2 grains of zinc 
to the pennyweight has been added, but in no case should 
a gold solder be made that is less than 8 carats fine. The 
gold is wasted by not being sufficient in quantity to pro- 
tect the alloy from oxidizing. It is better for such work 
to use silver solder. 

Gold solder for general work may be made of Gold 18, 
Silver 4, Copper 5, Zinc 2 parts, by weight, or, to 1 dwt! 
18 carat gold add 5 grs. spring brass. This will be 15 
carat gold. Tin is sometimes used instead of zinc, but it 
makes a more brittle alloy owing to its easier fusibility. 



18 HARD SOLDERING. 

The gold solders jire made on charcoal, pressed and 
rolled as described for silver. 



CHAPTER III. 

OXIDAXIO^. 

While the oxygen of the air is of the greatest assistance 
in producing the heat that the workman employs, it also 
becomes his greatest enemy in the property it has of unit- 
ing with the metals of which his work is composed. In 
welding, brazing, hard soldering or soft soldering, only 
chemically clean metallic surfaces will unite. The pure 
metals must come in contact in order to establish perma- 
nent affinity. 

Nearly all the metals and alloys in common use oxidize. 
The oxidized metal is the red rust or the black scale on 
iron or steel ; the white oxide of zinc ; the red oxide of 
lead ; the yellow oxide, or litharge, and the white oxide, or 
white lead; the black oxide of coj^per ; the oxide of tin, 
called i)utty powder. 

Gold derives its superior value from its properties of 
resisting the oxidizing power of the air and water, its 
malleability and its scarcity. Silver derives its value 
from the same properties, but possessing them in a less 
degree, while it is more abundant, is cheaper in market 
value. 

In the working of metals the workman resorts to other 
substances that possess the power of resisting the action 



OXIDATION. 19 

of the oxygen and of uniting with the oxides of the 
metals, if formed. Different substances are used, adapted 
to protect the metals at the degree of heat required for the 
process used. In welding, borax is used, because at a red 
heat it melts and flows over the surface of the iron, pro- 
tecting it from the hot air of the forge and uniting with 
the oxide or scale if formed. In brazing and hard solder- 
ing the same substance is used for the same purpose. 
When the temperature is not raised to a sufficient extent 
to melt borax, sal ammoniac, muriate of zinc, resin, Venice 
turpentine, and even tallow and sweet oil may be used, as 
in soft soldering and the tinning of iron. These sub- 
stances are called fluxes^ and are used for the one purpose 
of protecting the metal from the oxygen of the air. The 
beginner must not get them confused, for while borax is 
the shield at a high temperature, it is not only useless but 
in the way at a low one, and while tallow or oil will flux 
at a low temperature and when used alone, they have the 
opposite effect at a little higher temperature or mixed with 
other fluxes. 

Charcoal also operates to protect metals from the oxygen 
of hot air by itself uniting with it, or in a vicarious way. 
The workman who solders on charcoal can often protect 
one side of his work from oxidizing by causing it to fit the 
coal tightly. The charcoal burns around the work and 
consumes the oxygen before it reaches the side in contact. 

Other substances called antioxidizers are used to pro- 
tect the surface of metals from the action of the air where 
solder is not intended to flow. The blacksmith "lutes'' 
his steel dies, or the gunsmith his engraved work, with 
clay. The jeweler coats his work with yellow ochre and 



W HARD SOLDERING. 

other substances given hereafter, for the same purpose. 
They act in a me<3hanioal way by being interposed between 
the surface to be protected and the air. 

To resist the action of the air upon articles in ordinary 
use the gunsmith blues or browns the surface, that is, he 
produces on the surface a coat of oxide to prevent farther 
oxidation; the brass finisher ^'ormolus," that is, heats un- 
til a light coat of oxide forms and then applies a light 
coat of shellac; the electro-metallurgist plates with gold, 
silver or nickel. For the same purpose sheets of iron 
are tinned and coated with zinc. Zinc, although freely 
oxidizable, takes on a coat of oxide impervious to air or 
moisture, thus preventing further oxidation. 

Of anti-oxidizers, the most important ingredients are 
yellow ochre and borax. The workman may compound to 
suit himself. To prevent steel from scaling, yellow ochre 
and water forming a paste to spread on will answer the 
purpose. To prevent alloys of gold from changing color, 
pulverized borax should be added to the ochre, as also a 
little aqua ammonia to assist in forming a paste. A good 
recipe is 

Borax, ----- 1 oz. 

Aqua Ammonia, - - - - ^ oz. 

Yellow Ochre, - - - - 1* oz. 

Water to make a paste. 
Some add also pulverized charcoal. If kept tightly 
stopped it seems to improve with age. 

The means of removing oxides formed in hard soldering 
and of restoring the color to alloys will be considered in 
Chap. VII. 



CHAPTER IV. 

SXRUCTURB OF FI.AME. 

Since the flame of the lamp is of general use in solder- 
ing, it may be well to devote a little time to the study of 
its structure. The flame is produced by the combustion 
of gases. In the case of alcohol or oil, the liquid at the 
end of the wick is raised to a temperature at which it 
volatilizes. The gases are then heated until they combine 
with the oxygen of the air, in turn producing heat and 
volatilizing more of the liquid. The wick of the lamp or 
candle conveys the liquid to the point of combustion to 
maintain the supply. The gases as they 
arise from the wick come in contact 
with the oxygen in the air, with which 
they unite. As the stream of hot gases 
flows upward the outer portion comes 
in contact with the air first, and the 
inner portions as they pass upward are 
presented to the air, Fig. 4, causing the 
flame from a round wick to be conical 
in shape. Where the process of the 
union of the gases is going on, that is at 
all points of this cone of flame, B^ Fig. 
4, the elements are raised to a high de 
gree of temperature. The highest tern- Fig. 4. 




22 HARD SOLDERING. 

perature is at the apex of the cone where combustion, or 
oxidation of the gases, is proceeding from all sides. Ir- 
side of this outer cone of flame is a space comparatively 
cool, but filled with gases at a temperature sufficiently 
high to oxidize if brought in contact with the air. A, Fig. 
4. If a wire gauze be held across the middle of the cone 
the flame Avill be cut off at that point and the flame below 
presents a ring of combustion. The reason that the flame 
is cut off by the wire gauze is that the heat is conducted 
away by the metal and the gases cooled thereby below the 
temperature at which combustion takes place. If a piece 
of watch spring be inserted across the lower part of the 
flame it will be heated to redness at two points where it 
crosses the outer cone of combustion, while the portion in 
the interior of the flame w^ill be below that temperature. 
In the flame from oil lamps and candles this cone of in- 
tense heat is luminous. 

If the point of the blowpipe be inserted in this cone. 

Fig. 5, and through 
the small aperture in 
its end, a jet of air be 
blown, the heated gases 
in the interior of the 
Fig. 5. " " flame are supplied with 

oxygen and combustion is carried on from within, increas- 
ing the combustion and consequently the heat. The 
stream of air elongates the flame in its direction and ex- 
poses it to a greater air surface. This flame is technical- 
ly called the oxidizing flame, from the fact that it carries 
with it a quantity of free heated oxygen, that unites with 
the heated metal, carbon of the charcofll, (fee. If it be 




STRUCTURE OF FLAME. 23 

blown on a piece of bright iron or steel, as the oxygen 
unites with the surface exposed, it passes through the 
tempering colors, straw, purple, blue, and if the process 
be continued to a red heat, a hard black scale of oxide of 
iron is formed covering the surface to a depth correspond- 
ing to the duration of exposure. Pure gold and silver are 
but little affected by it, as they unite with oxygen only to 
a slight extent, but copper is very susceptible to the action 
of hot oxygen, losing its metallic lustre, and assuming a 
dull brown color. It causes alloys of which it is an in- 
gredient to do likewise. Zinc is volatilized by the heat, 
and the vapor coming in contact w^ith the hot oxygen, 
unites, forming fleecy white particles of oxide of zinc 
that float in the air or adhere to the charcoal. Tin at 
a little above its melting point is entirely oxidized and 
converted into putty powder. Lead does likewise, but the 
oxide is yellow and heavier, commonly called litharge. 

If the point of the blowpipe be held at a little distance 
from the lower part of f-r^^ 

the flame and a gentle ^"" 

blast be blown over the 
flame, as in Fig. 6, 
the flame is diverted 
in the direction of the Fig 6. 

stream of air, and the flame supplied with oxygen from 
the outside. The inner cone of heated carbonaceous 
gases, A^ Fig. 6, remain ready to unite with any oxygen 
with which they may come in contact. Oxidized metals 
in the interior of this flame are deprived of their oxygen 
and reduced to a metallic state. It is therefore called the 
reducing flame. 




24 



HARD SOLDERING. 




^^^ If the point of the 
I (C$^^^ blowpipe be held just 
at the edge of the 
cone of combustion 
as in Fig. 7, and a 
gentle blast blown, a 
double cone may be formed, having a point of intense heat 
at JL, with neither oxidation or deoxidation. 

These different flames are utilized in soldering by ap 
plying the intense heat of the oxidizing flame to raise the 
temperature of the cold article to be soldered, if it be 
large, before the solder is applied. Also, when it is 
necessary to call to his assistance the heat of the burning 
charcoal, it supplies the carbon of the coal with heated 
oxygen to assist its combustion. When the process has 
arrived at that stage at which the solder fuses it is neces- 
sary to protect it and and the joint into which it is expect- 
ed to flow from oxidation. The blowpipe is then with 
drawn, producing the reducing flame. 

On coarse work the oxidizing flame may be used to save 
time, but on light repairing and gold alloys too much care 
cannot be exercised to use the reducino; flame. 



CHAPTER V. 
HEAX. 

Heat is transmitted by conduction or convection, radia- 
tion and rejection. 

Heat, in solid bodies, seems to be transmitted from one 
particle to the next by a slow process called conduction, 
and in liquids by the movement of the particles to and 
from the source of heat. 

Heat radiates or passes through the surrounding air, like 
light, with great rapidity. It is in this state governed bj; 
laws similar to light, being capable of reflection. 

It may be produced by chemical action and transmitted 
by any of the foregoing methods. It may be developed 
within a body by causing it to obstruct a current of elec- 
tricity or motion. 

For the work of which we are treating the main source 
of heat is by the combustion of coal, gas or liquids — the 
union of the oxygen of the air with carbon or hydrocar 
bons. The work may be immersed in the burning coal, 
receiving heat from all sides, as in soldering and brazing; 
the flame from liquids or gas may be driven onto it as in 
hard soldering, or it may be conducted to the Avork as in 
soft soldering. 

By whatever means the heat be imparted to a body, as 
soon as it is introduced it strives to equalize itself through- 

4 



26 HARD SOLDERING. 

out tha body and to escape by every means of transmis- 
sion. As the heat seeks to escape from the workman by 
every method, so must the skilled workman employ every 
method to lead the heat to the point desired and make it 
culminate in accomplishing his designs. 

The escape of heat by conduction varies in different 
bodies. If you take an iron spoon and a silver one and 
hold the bowls of both in hot water, you will feel the heat 
in the silver one some time before you do in the one made 
of iron. From this you may learn that you can heat a 
portion of a bar of iron without losing much heat by con- 
duction if the process be carried on briskly, but an at- 
tempt to heat a spot on a similar silver bar would be at- 
tended with considerable loss oF heat by conduction. 

The relative conducting power of metals is given in 
Towne's Chemistry as follows. 
Silver, 
Copper, - 
Gold, - 
Brass, 
Tin, - 
Iron, - - 

Another principle to be taken into consideration in this 
connection is the amount of heat required to raise the tem- 
perature of different metals. Metals differ in their capao 
ity for heat. Iron requires more heat to raise it a certain 
number of degrees of temperature than silver, so that al- 
though there is not so much loss of heat at any given 
point, by conduction, it is necessary to impart more heat 
to raise the temperature of the whole iron bar an equal 
number of degrees than the one of silver. This capacity 



000 


Steel, - 


116 


736 


Lead, 


■ S3 


532 


Platinum, 


84 


236 


German Silver, 


. 63 


145 


Bismuth 


18 


119 


Zinc (Mech. Diet.) ■ 


- 363 



STRUCTURE OF FLAME. 27 

for heat of any substance is called its specific heat. A 
celebrated French experimenter, Regnault, gives the fol- 
lowing numbers to express the relative specific heat of the 
metals as compared with water: 



Aluminum, 


0.2143 


Mercury, - 


0.0333 


Antimony, - 


- 0.0508 


Nickel, 


- 0.1086 


Bismuth, - 


0.0308 


Platinum, 


0.0320 


Copper, 


- 0.0952 


Silver, 


- 0.0570 


Gold, 


0.0324 


Tin, 


0.0562 


Iron, - 


- 0.1138 


Water, 


- 1.0080 


Lead, 


0.0314 


Zinc, 


0.0955 



It will be seen, for an example, by comparing the tables, 
that copper has a high conducting power and also a hiiih 
capacity for heat, thereby being hard to heat, while plati- 
num is a poor conductor and also has a low specific, ren- 
dering it easy to heat. 

As soon as a body becomes heated more than the sur- 
rounding matter it loses heat by radiation. The heat pro- 
jects in right lines into space from all points of its sur- 
face. The capacity of any body to radiate and to absorb 
heat is equal. Radiation is varied by the condition of the 
surface of a body. Dark or rough surfaces lose more heat 
by radiation and absorb more than light or polished sur 
faces. Blackened tin having a radiating power of 100, 
clean tin will radiate but 12, and if the surface be rough- 
ened by scraping, 16 will indicate its power of radiation. 
Radiant heat, or in other words heat that has been radiat- 
ed from an over heated body, is subject to laws of reflec- 
tion similar to light, in which case the heat rays are thrown 
off from the body without entering. Hence if a body re- 
flects the heat it does not absorb it, and vice versa. 



28 HARD SOLDERING. 

Having considered the methods by which heat escapes 
from a body, we may now review the ways the workman 
has of applying the heat and preventing its escape. In 
common use we have the flame of the lamp or of gas; the 
heat from the burning coal on the hearth or in the forge; 
the heat from conduction from hot tongs, the copper, and 
sometimes by pouring melted metal over a body. To the 
flame of gas or the lamp which raises the temperature, as 
explained in another chapter, by contact with gases in a 
state of combustion, we often add the heat radiated and 
reflected from burning charcoal, and cover parts that are 
not exposed to the flame with some poor conductor of 
heat, such as clay or plaster of Paris, to prevent the radi- 
ation of the heat absorbed by conduction. In the forge 
the temperature is raised by cor tact with burning solids, 
conducting, radiating and reflecting the heat. In some 
instances where heat and pressure combined are neces- 
sary, heated tongs are applied, thus heating bj' conduc- 
tion and at the same time retaining the parts in position 
during their expansion. When the work is too large for 
other methods it is sometimes imbedded in sand or other 
poor conductor, leaving the portion to be heated exposed 
so that melted metal may be kept running over it until the 
part is raised to the desired temperature by conduction 
from the melted metal. 



CHAPTER VI. 
THE PROCESS. 

We will suppose the reader to be provided with the 
tools and material described for hard solderins;, but in the 
art to be a beginner, and we will suppose him to be try- 
ing to learn with the mouth blowpipe, the alcohol lamp 
and charcoal, since when these are learned the other 
methods are easy. 

Select a place for the work table away from sunlight 
or other strong or bright light, in order that the flame 
may be more readily seen, and its character distinguished. 

Place the lamp directly in front, the pieces of charcoal 
to the left. Next the lamp on the right put the tweezers 
and some solder cut up in little squares proportioned to 
the size of the joint to be made, then the slate and borax, 
the wash bottle and the blowpipe. 

Take for an experiment a piece of brass wire an inch 
long which it may be desired to unite to a narrow strip 
of sheet brass. With a flat file, file the wire half away, 
leaving it flat perhaps a quarter of an inch from the end 
to a shoulder, leaving the filed surface clean, bright and 
dry. File or polish bright the end of the strip of sheet 
metal where the wire is to lay. Do not touch these clean 
surfaces with the sweaty hands. Place the piece of wire 



30 HAKD SOLDERING. 

on the sheet metal as you want it when solid and wrap a 
piece of the iron binding wire twice around near the end 
of the brass wire, lap the ends over the round Avire and 
twist tight. Make a similar wrap of wire near the end 
of the sheet metal. Blow a drop of water from the wash- 
bottle on the slate and rub the borax in the water until a 
paste is formed. Apply a coat of this paste all around 
the edges where the two pieces come in contact. Lay the 
work on the charcoal so that the joint will come near its 
right edge. Take the cover off the lamp wick and light 
the lamp. Grasp the charcoal with the left hand, taking 
such a hold that the flame will not reach the thumb or 
lingers and having the palm of the hand in a vertical po- 
sition so that the little sparks of ignited charcoal that 
may become dislodged will not fall into the palm of the 
hand. 

Place the blowpipe to the mouth with the nozzle directed 
to the left and just outside the lower part of the flame. 
Fill the cheeks with air from the lungs and blow sufficient- 
ly hard and steady to give a permanent lateral direction 
to the flame. Bring the work into the flame first one side 
of the joint then the other. The heat will be conducted 
to the work and cause the borax to expand, but if the heat 
be continued it will settle down again, having been de 
prived of the water of crystalization by the heat. Now 
stop the blast, care being taken not to inhale through the 
blowpipe. 

With the tweezers pick up a piece of the solder, and 
after touching it to the borax paste to moisten it and cause 
it to adhere to the work, place it beside the wire between 
the wraps of binding wire. 



THE PROCESS. 31 

Apply the flauie as before, heating first one side of the 
joint, then the other, but not on the joint until it becomes 
nearl}^ red hot, then apply the flame to the joint until it 
becomes red hot and the solder melts and flows all through 
the joint. As soon as the solder flows quickly remove 
the blowpipe. It is easy to tell when the solder flows for 
while it is melted it o-Hstens with radiated lio-ht. 

Blow a stream of w\ater from the wash-bottle on the 
charcoal to extinquish the fire and cool off the work. 

It will be necessary for the beginner to practice with 
the blowpipe in order to blow a continuous stream of air 
through the blowpipe nozzle while he breathes through his 
nostrils. To one not accustomed to the blowpipe it seems 
a paradox, but is, nevertheless, easily acquired by any 
one the anatomy of whose throat is perfect. 

If you close your mouth and fill your cheeks with air 
until they are distended you will find that you can close 
the passage between the mouth and throat so that while 
you breathe through the nose the cheeks remain full. Then 
if a blowpipe be inserted in the mouth and this passage 
closed the blowpipe will not permit the air to escape from 
the cheeks so rapidly but that the lungs may be filled by 
inhaling through the nose while the muscles of the cheeks 
are forcing the air out of the blowpipe. When the lungs 
are replenished the passage is opened and the cheeks re- 
filled. 

Begin by breathing naturally with the cheeks full, then 
put the bloAvpipe in the mouth and practice until you can 
breathe right along naturally, replenishing the cheeks when- 
ever necessary. After you have become accustomed to 
blowing it will not be necessary to replenish the cheeks 



32 HARD SOLDERING. 

every breath or to have the cheeks much distended, and 
you will be able to perform the whole operation without it 
distracting your attention from the other parts of the 
j)rocess. 

If the beginner has trouble in acquiring dexterity he 
may take a rim fire cartridge shell and make a hole in the 
end smaller than the hole in the blowpipe nozzle, at first, 
so as not to empty the -cheeks too fast. Put it between 
the lips in the place of the blowpipe and practice blowing 
through it. As skill is acquired enlarge the aperture un- 
til it becomes as large or larger than the one in the blow- 
pipe. It may be carried in the pocket to practice with at 
any moment of leisure. 

If the beginner is now ready for another experimental 
lesson he may make a ferrule. Procure a piece of sheet 
iron, brass or silver, and place on the charcoal. Hold the 
blowpipe point just outside of the lower part of the flame 
and blowing the flame upon the sheet metal, heat it red 
hot. If of iron allow it to cool gradually, but if of brass or 
silver blow a jet from the wash bottle on it until it is cool. 
It will then be annealed, and if you make any particular 
measure you will not be annoyed when it is done by find- 
ing that it has expanded in hard soldering and does not fit. 

Cut out a strip as wide as your ferrule is to be and as 
long as its circumference. Form into shape, keeping the 
cdires to be united clean. If the metal is thick and the 
joint well fitted, it may be soldered without binding ; but if 
tlie metal l)e light or the ferrule long, put a couple wraps of 
binding wire near each end to hold the edges together. If 
of brass, silver or gold, put a strip of flat sheet brass 
lengthwise along the back of the ferrule opposite the joint 



THE PROCESS. 33 

and wrap the binding wire around both. Brass, silver or 
gold, in heating, expand more than the iron binding wire 
and are more pliable when hot. If the binding wire be 
wrapped directly around them, by not expanding so much 
it sinks into the hot brass, silver or gold, and makes 
grooves around the ferrule, sometimes causing much annoy- 
ance to restore to shajoe and polish out. 

When you have it wrapped and the edges fitted closely 
together, take a file and run along inside tlie ferrule length- 
wise of the joint, to remove the burr and scale and bright- 
en the metal near the joint, to facilitate the flow^ of the 
solder. If of iron or brass spread on plenty of borax 
paste inside and out ; but if of silver or gold enough can 
be spread on with a small pencil brush, as those metals 
do not oxidize materially, and do not require much fluxing, 
but it should be evenly applied and cover every exposure 
of the joint. 

Make a little hollow in the charcoal and lay the ferrule 
in, joint down. Put a small piece of coal near the end 
farthest from the flame. Hold the charcoal so that you 
can blow through the ferrule if you desire, and, applying 
the blowpipe flame, heat all over evenly until the borax 
settles. With the tweezers take a piece of solder, as be- 
fore, and touching it in the borax paste, lay it on the joint 
inside of the ferrule at a little distance from one end, and 
another piece near the other end ; if the ferrule be long put 
one or more pieces in the middle. 

Now apply the flame to the outside of the ferrule on top 
until it becomes nearly red, then direct it inside, as far in 
as you can conveniently, and downward along the joint 
until the solder flows. 
5 



;U HARD SOLDERING. 

If of silver or gold sec that the blue flame does not im- 
pinge on the edge of the metal long in the same place, as 
it may melt do^Yn, and if you see the metal at any time 
hegin to crinkle or shrivel, throw off the flame as soon as 
possible. If the solder should not flow up to the end do 
not direct too much heat there, as those corners are easily 
melted away. It is better to put on fresh borax, a new 
piece of solder, and try it again. 

The solder should not be as thick as the gold or silver 
sheet, but the brass or iron will stand for almost any thick 
ness of solder to melt. 

Some workmen put the joint uppermost on the coal and 
apply the solder on the outside. 

We will next take a job of repairing, for instance a sil- 
ver teaspoon that has been broken across the middle of 
the shank. The joint may be made 
by squaring the broken ends and 
putting them flat together, depend- 
ing on pinning the work to the 
charcoal to hold it in place while 
under heat. It may be made by 
sawing into each piece and inserting 
into the kerfs a piece of silver, as ^^ 

in Fig. 8. 

It may be made by holding each end on an anvil and 
drawing to a bevel edge with the pane end of a hammer, 
making a bevel perhaps one fourth of an inch long on each 
piece, then file smooth and bright and laying the two bev- 
eled ends together, as in Fig. 9, wrap with binding 
wire. If the spoon is to be united in any of these ways 
it should be fastened to the charcoal Avith pins made by 



THE PROCESS. 35 

cutting ofF pieces iron wire, about No. 20 in size. If it is 
not convenient to pin to the cli:ircoal the latter joint may 
be made with a notch in it to prevent slipping apart, as 
shown by Fig. 10, when the binding wire will retain the 
pieces in position in every direction. 

A piece of charcoal should be selected as long as the 
spoon, on which it may lie so that the joint and the ends 
will rest on the coal. Pin it to the coal if necessary, and 
apply the borax paste. Put a small piece of charcoal on 
top of the larger piece, on the side of the spoon and op- 
posite where the flame will strike when blowing on the 
joint. If this piece has a beveled side, so as to project 
over the spoon at the joint, so much better. Place a 
piece of coal on the spoon bowl. 

Direct the flame on the coal around the spoon, to ignite 
the coal and to heat the borax. When the borax has set 
tied, put on a piece of solder, this time a thick one, so 
that it may not melt and burn before the metal of the 
spoon is hot enough for it to flow in the joint. It should 
be about half as thick as the metal at the joint. Apply 
the flame first one side of the joint then on the other, un- 
til these parts are nearly red hot. By doing so the heat 
will be conducted into the metal at the joint, and heat it 
gradually, without melting the solder, the object being to 
apply the heat in such a manner as to heat the metal at 
the joint without permanently melting the solder. By 
having these parts hot when the flame is applied to the 
joint to melt and flow the solder, the heat will not be con- 
ducted away, but will suddenly raise the temperature to 
the required degree without oxidizing the solder or vola- 
tilizing any of its component parts, and also economizing 



36 HAED SOLDERING. 

the heat of the flame, the theory of which has been ex- 
plained in foregoing chapters. 

When the parts on each side of the joint show nearly a 
red heat, see that the point of the blowpipe is outside 
of the flame, and direct a gentle blast on the joint until it 
becomes red, the solder fuses and a bright glistening line 
along the joint tells that the solder has run through. 

It is common for the beginner to blow too hard, and to 
hold the w^ork too close to the lamp, with the hope of 
thereby increasing the heat. The blast when the solder 
is to be fused should be moderate, and the work at the 
blue apex of the inner cone of the flame, a point that can 
readily be seen by removing the work or by slackening 
and then gradually increasing the force of the blast. 

If from poor borax, an unclean joint, or an improper 
application of the heat, the first piece of solder does not 
flow as it should, another piece with a little fresh borax 
may be added, and the work again heated. Sometimes 
the workman may be annoyed by the solder forming a 
globule, dancing around and refusing to flow into the joint. 
In such a case, if the metal below is hot enough, it will 
sometimes flow if the blast be suddenly checked or with- 
drawn. If it continues long, so as to volatilize the more 
i'usible parts of the solder, remove the globules and as 
much of the old borax as is practicable, and apply fresh 
borax and solder, and take a new heat. When the work 
is required to possess the utmost strength, and will stand 
the heat, it may be kept heated after the solder has run, 
in order that it may alloy deeper into the metal of the 
work, and make the metal at the joint more homogeneous. 

If the spoon had cracked down the bowl and it were re- 



THE PROCESS. 37 

quired to repair it, the edges should be brought together 
at the top, and a hole punched in each near the corner, 
through which to bind with a piece of silver Avire large 
enough to fill the holes, or, rivet a piece of silver on. 
The surplus metal can be dressed off after soldering. It 
is necessary in the case of cracked pieces of concave form 
to provide against the unequal expansion from heat, as it 
tends to open the crack. A secure method of retaining 
the parts having been provided for, proceed as before. 
Place a small piece of charcoal in the spoon bowl, to 
counteract radiation of heat. 



CHAPTER VII. 

XHB PROCBSS-Coiitinued. 

We will suppose that by this time our apprentice has 
become familiar with the blowpipe, flame, and materials on 
his table, and desires to replace a broken joint on a silver 
watch-case. He will find the ends of the outer joints 
plugged with little tapering pieces of silver, that he may 
remove by cutting into slightly with an engraver's chisel, 
and pressing them out. The joint pin may then be driv- 
en out by inserting a small punch in the hole and pushing 
from left to right. The old pieces of joint should be re- 
moved entirely, and the hollow seat dressed smooth and 
bright with a round file. From a piece of hollow wire of 
the size of the joint cut a piece a little long, and fit to the 
exact length between the joints. Examine it to find on 



38 HARD SOLDERING. 

which side it is closed, dress it hright on that side and 
mark it so that the joint in the wire may come on the case 
and be soldered up when it is united to the case. If it is 
a light case, and the hole in the joint wire small, there is 
danger that the solder may flow into the hole and fill it 
up. To save this prospect of future trouble, the carefu^ 
workman dresses a piece of pencil black lead, to fit the 
hole in the wire. The properties of the black lead or 
plumbago, that make it useful for this purpose, are that 
the solder will not unite with it, that it is not altered by 
heat, and that it may be crumbled to powder to remove it, 
if necessary. 

Having marked the exact position that you desire the 
joint to occupy, if you intend to retain it in position by 
passing iron binding wire around the whole cap, it will be 
well to fit a heavy piece of brass wire across inside the 
cap from flange to flange, or the silver of the case in ex- 
panding more than the iron binding w^ire, will be contracted 
out of its natural shape unless supported. Heavy wire 
should not be used to bind such a job. When light 
wire is used it should only be wrapped twice around, so 
that if it be seen to be doing damage it may be easily 
burned asunder by the point of the flame. Tlie wire is 
not usually needed after the solder is applied. 

Apply the borax and put it on the charcoal. Your sol- 
der this time should be thinner than the material of the 
joint wire, and cut into small pieces so that it will not be 
necessary to use more than enough to answer the purpose, 
since the surplus may flow into places where it will be dis- 
agreeable to remove. Place some small pieces of char- 
coal inside the cap, and blow the flame over them, to par- 



THE PROCESS. 39 

tially ignite them. Heat enough to calcine the borax. 
Put a piece of solder either alongside or near the end of 
the joint. Heat every part of the cap but the joint, and 
ignite the pieces of charcoal within to prevent the escape 
of heat by radiation, and thereby prevent the heat from 
being conducted away when the critical moment arrives. 
The carbon of the ignited charcoal will also unite Avith 
the oxygen of the air, and tend to prevent oxidation of 
the work. When it is all well heated, apply the heat to 
the joint and the metal adjacent, carefully watching that 
no one point shows too luminous, or otherwise indicates 
that it is receiving too much heat. The work should be 
kept slowly moving under the flame, so that the blue cone 
will not come in contact with a thin edge of metal at the 
same place any length of time, or you may see the edge 
shrivel and melt before you are aware of the intense heat. 

Watch intently for the bright glistening line along the 
joint that announces that the work is done, and quickly 
remove the flame to save farther danger. 

With the wash bottle blow a stream of water on the 
coal around the work until the main piece is quenched, 
but do not direct the stream onto one side of the cap, or 
in any way cause it to cool from a high degree of heat 
suddenly, or it will warp. If the coal be quenched 
around the cap, and the pieces of coal inside removed and 
quenched, it will now be cool enough to remove from the 
coal and take off the iron binding wire, when, while 
slightly warm it may be immersed in the silversmith's pick- 
ling solution described in the next chapter. If immersed 
a little warm, the black oxide is sooner removed. 

Had the cap been of gold, it would have been neces- 



40 HARD SOLDERING. 

sarj to cover the surface with an anti-oxidizing paste, to 
prevent loss of color by the copper of the alloy oxidizing 
in the presence of the hot oxygen. 

The caution in reojard to iron bindins: wire, and sudden 
cooling springing the work, applies to dental plates, or 
any work having an accurate form to preserve. 

In brazing or hard soldering large pieces, when it is 
necessary to use a hearth or forge, the pieces are bound 
together with heavy annealed iron wire, large enough not 
to burn off in the fire. Since the heat cannot be managed 
so well as with the flame and blowpipe, it is sometimes 
necessary to lute, or cover with clay, the lighter or more 
exposed portion of the work, to protect it from the heat. 
The same care is used to have the joint clean and bright, 
and the same rules observed in regard to the borax and 
solder, as in soldering with the flame. Charcoal is best, 
but if not at hand, and bituminous coal is to be used, it 
should have the sulphurous gases driven from it by burn- 
ing to a coke before putting the work in the fire. 

It is sometimes necessary to unite long thin strips of 
metal that cannot be fastened on anything to hold the 
ends in position, since the fastenings would have to be ap- 
plied at a distance from the ends to be united, and when 
the heat would be applied the expansion Avould cause them 
to buckle out of shape. To unite such articles, as for in- 
stance a band saw, prepare the end for a lap joint. Lap 
the ends more than the width of the saw. Cut a notch, 
larger than the lap, in a block, and fasten the pieces so 
that the edges of the back may be in line, and the laps 



THE PROCESS. 41 

in position over the notch. Fasten to the block by 
screws or clamps. Cut a piece of silver solder, rolled 
thin, as large as the lap. See that the solder and the 
faces to be united are clean and bright, and insert the 
the solder between the lapped surfaces. Apply the borax 
paste all around the edges. Heat the jaws of a pair of 
tight shutting blacksmith's tongs red hot, and shut them 
onto the joint, inclosing joint, solder, and all. If the 
jaws are so light as not to close firmly, screw a clamp on- 
to them. Cool with a stream of water. The heat from 
the jaws of the tongs is suiEcient by conduction to flow 
the solder, and the pressure retains the parts in position 
and prevents buckling. 

The solder may sometimes in blowpipe soldering be ap- 
plied to advantage by placing a thin strip in the joint. 



CHAPTER YIII. 



TECHP^ICAI. NOTES. 



It may be of advantage to the student in the art of hard 
soldering to introduce a chapter containing notes, partly 
in review, to impress the important points more firmly in 
the mind; and partly novel, being such ideas as have been 
derived from practice and experiment, and which may 
sometimes save, even to an experienced hand, many times 
the price of a little book. 
6 



42 HARD SOLDERING. 

Sometimes parts to be united have edges or corners so 
thin as to be almost certain to be "eat away." This eat- 
ing away or shrinking is caused partly by the heat coming 
in contact with a large area of metal in proportion to the 
bulk. Conduction does not equalize the heat fast enough 
to carry it away from the thin place, thus it becomes heat- 
ed more than the adjacent thicker metal, and melts, or 
comes near the melting point, before the solder flows 
When the solder flows it alloys with the thin hot edge or 
corner, and causes it, too, to flow toward the thicker or 
cooler metal. It may often be prevented by inserting in 
the joint a thin piece of sheet metal, of the same material 
as the body of the work, and a little larger, so as to ex- 
tend beyond the thin edge, as in Fig. 11. The solder 
must be flowed on both sides of it. It 
conducts the heat away from the thin 
cdojes and attracts the flowing solder 
outward to make a perfect, full joint. 
The surplus metal is afterward dressed 

^. ,, off. Sach a piece is often useful also 

Fig. 11. ' 

in gold rings that have been worn to 
thin edges, or have been resoldered so many times that 
the solder has alloyed with the body of the metal and 
causes it to melt easily. It is a good plan to insert such 
a piece in cutting down and hard soldering rings filled 
with hard solder, in which case it is not necessary to use 
any hard solder on the outside, since if the piece of sheet 
metal be properly cleaned the filling will flow, but it is 
safer to use a little, if for nothing else than to tell when 
to stop the blast. 




TECHNICAL NOTES. 43 

The silversmith's "pickle" is made by diluting nitric 
acid with ten times its bulk of water, putting it in an 
open vessel like a pickle dish and adding as much sul- 
phuric acid, by measure, as was used of nitric acid. The 
acids should not be mixed in a tight vessel. If the pick'e 
stands exposed to the air it will evaporate, but is restored 
again by adding water. Iron should never be allowed to 
get in it. Articles should never be taken out of it with 
steel tweezers; the binding wire should be removed from 
all articles before they are put in. Whenever by any 
means iron gets in the solution it is dissolved by the acids 
and held in solution. The pickle also holds copper in so- 
lution. These are ready to be deposited wh never the 
acid comes in contact with any metal for which it has a 
greater afl&nity, therefore it deposits a coat of copper 
when iron is presented, and a coat of iron when silver is 
presented, coloring the work instead of cleaning it. 



Restoring color to gold alloys is a subject on which the 
author has spent a good deal of time in investiga:ion and 
experiment. If an alloy of gold, containing gold, silver 
and copper, be heated in contact with oxygen to a red 
heat, without any anti-oxidizer to protect the surface, it 
becomes coated with a brown scale. It is only surface 
deep, and may be polished off in many cases. We have 
seen that gold does not oxidize to any appreciable extent; 
that silver has not much affinity for oxygen, but that cop- 
per is easily oxidized. If we now dip it in the silver- 
smith's pickle the sulphuric acid will remove this oxide of 
copper, and leave a surface composed of gold and silver. 



44 HARD SOLDERING. 

consequently it has turned pale, or lost its color. The 
problem then is when the copper has oxidized, to remove 
the copper oxide and as much silver as the alloy contains 
in proportion to the copper that has been lost by oxida- 
tion. The only chemical reagent known that has an affini- 
ty for silver and not for the other metals is chromic acid. 
Sulphuric acid removes the copper readily, but not the 
silver. Chromic acid is not commonly kept for sale, but 
is, fortunately, easily made. Take a bottle and fill half 
full of bichromate of potash. Then fill the bottle nearly 
full of sulphuric acid. The sulphuric acid has a greater 
affinity for the potash than the chromic acid. It unites 
with the potash and liberates the chromic acid. It works 
best warm. If the article be dipped in it when the solu- 
tion is warm and allowed to remain a short time the 
chromic acid unites with the silver of the surface, and re- 
moving it, restores the alloy to its original color. It may 
be restored after having been dipped in the silversmith's 
pickle or without. The solution may be used cold if the 
article be plunged in hot, but it is not so easily regulated, 
as the acid operates quickly under such circumstances. 
It must not be allowed to remain in t jO long, or it will as- 
sume a dirty brown color. The chromic acid should be 
kept in a vessel tightly closed, as it evaporates if exposed 
to the air. If water is added to chromic acid it does not 
dilute it as it does other acids, but forms a new compound. 
I have found that this compound, after it has stood a few 
days, works as well as the clear acid, if too much water is 
not added. 

Chromic acid is one of the best tests for silver, since if 
a drop of it be put on silver it changes its color from its 



TECnNICAL NOTES. 45 

natural crimson red to a dark maroon, while on any other 
white metal it remains a clear transparent crimson. 

Articles that have had chromic acid on them should be 
washed with water and brushed with chalk. 

Pieces are sometimes united by a process called "sweat- 
ing." The process is similar to that of hard soldering, 
but no solder is used. The joint is made as for hard sol- 
der, cleaned, borax applied, and heated beyond the point 
at which hard solder would flow. Just before the metal 
melts and assumes a globular form, the surface has the 
appearance of sweating and the particles move sufficiently 
to unite. At this point the heat is removed. This 
process is useful in repairing silver caustic holders, where 
the chemical action of the nitrate of silver disintegrates 
hard solder joints. 

Steel springs may, if freshly broken and the broken 
surfaces are bright and clean, be repaired by soldering 
with good 18 carat gold. As soon as the spring is sol- 
dered, while it is yet red hot, plunge it into water or 
sperm oil, thus hardening it with the same heat with which 
it is soldered. Then proceed to temper. The temperino- 
is accomplished if the springs are small by putting them 
into an iron spoon bowl and covering with sperm or lard 
oil, then heating the metal until the oil burns off. Laro-er 
springs may be covered with a coil of iron wire dipped in 
oil and the oil burned off. If the oil is burned off two or 
three times the springs are tougher. 



46 HARD SOLDERING. 

When the binding wire runs across an open place in the 
work it is liable to burn off. It may be prevented to a 
certain extent by doubling and twisting the wire. The 
doubled and twisted wire is better for most purposes than 
heavy wire. It is strong, pliable, and more elastic than 
the larger solid wire, and is not so liable to shrink into 
the work. 

Light pieces are often held in position on larger ones 
by a piece of watch spring. Heat it red hot to draw the 
temper, bend to a right angle and stick one end down into 
the charcoal. The other end projects over the work and 
presses down on the piece to be held. 

When two ends of similar size and form are to be unit- 
ed, a hole may be drilled in each and a pin inserted. The 
pin must be clean so that the solder will flow through the 
hole. Drill the holes without oil. 

When a long joint is to be made in very thin sheet 

metal the edges may be cut into at 

equal distances and depths, then one 

^''-- !-• turned up and the next down alons: 

ea'ch edge, when they may be put together, as in Fig. 12. 

Retain with binding wire or an occasional rivet. After 

soldering dress off the surplus. 

To put little studs or lugs on wire or other Avork, when 
it is diilicult to retain the little pieces 
in place, use a long piece, as in Fig. 
Fig. 13. 13, and cut off after soldering. 




TECHNICAL NOTES. 47 

When two flat or square pieces of similar size and shape 
are to be united longitudily, the joint is 
easily formed by bending the pieces, as 
in Fig. 14, and dressing off the corners 
after soldering. It is frequently done 
in making rings smaller, repairing spec- 
tacle bows, (fee. ^'^- ^^• 

It is often necessary to call the attention of the begin- 
ner a second time to the fact that the body of the metal 
on which solder is expected to flow must be hotter than 
the melting point of the solder, and that it is injurious to 
melt the solder until the work is heated. The desire to 
accomplish the object of flowing the solder leads many in- 
telligent but inexperienced workmen to go, as they sup- 
pose, directly at it by applying the heat to the solder, 
which fuses, assumes a globular shape, and rolls around 
on the borax and cooler metal beneath, but persistently, 
as if with a desire to annoy the workman, refuses to flow. 
There may be other causes, as an unclean surface, poor 
borax, a solder that fuses at too low a temperature, but it 
usually arises from a lack of heat in the right place at the 
right time. The work should, if possible, be a little hot- 
ter than the solder, when an attraction will be established 
that will draw the solder into the joint. Even when the 
metal beneath announces by its glow that it is above the 
required temperature, if the little globule of molten sol- 
der be still hotter, it will seem to be in a state of interna! 
ebullition, and like a drop of water on heated iron, seem 
to be held away by its own vapor. Under such circum- 
stances if the flame be removed for an instant, allowing it 



48 - HARD SOLDERING. 

to radiate a little heat, it suddenly drops into the joint. 
Too much care in applying the flame cannot be exer- 
cised to bring the two pieces to be united to the required 
temperature at the same time. If the workman is care- 
less in this respect he will be annoyed by having the sol- 
der flow on one piece, and if that state of affairs be long 
continued the solder alloys, and perhaps eats away a por- 
tion of the work. If of gold, although the joint may be 
made with a new heat and a fresh piece of solder, when 
it comes to be polished up it may show a spot of a differ- 
ent color. Heat the piece first that requires the most 
heat to bring it to the required temperature. If bulky, 
then a greater mass is to be heated, if large and thin its 
radiating surface is greater. The loss of heat by radia- 
tion may often be prevented by placing small pieces of 
charcoal on or near the work. They also seem to prevent 
oxidation by uniting with the ox3^gen of the air when they 
become hot. Large plates are often advantageously coated 
with a layer of plaster of Paris to prevent radiation. 
Being a poor conductor it serves to prevent the heat from 
escaping, and in brazing may be used to prevent exposed 
parts from becoming too hot. It should not be applied 
very near the joint since it, also, will prevent the flame 
from heating the metal. 

It is well to use as hard a solder as the nature of the 
work will permit. The harder flowing solders are not 
only usually stronger and less liable to oxidize, but the 
work is more easily repaired in case of accident. It is of 
little use to make a solder that will melt at a less temper 
ature than the fusing point of borax, since if it flows at 



TECHNICAL NOTES 49 

all it must be applied while the temperature is above that 
point. 

In heating large pieces over a forge, beware of sulphur, 
lead or zinc. If soft coal is used, fresh coal should not 
be put on the fire while the process of brazing is going on. 
Lead or zinc sometimes get in the fire, and being evapo- 
rated and oxidized, deposit their oxides on the cooler met- 
al of the article to be soldered. Brass, or pieces of spel- 
ter burning in the fire produce vapors of zinc, often suffi- 
cient to cause a failure of a job of brazing or welding, by 
being deposited on the article to be brazed or welded. 

When it is desi.ed to flow solder in a crack for the pur- 
pose of filling it up, the solder should, if practicable, be 
flowed on both sides, if it extends through. Solder may 
sometimes be advantageously placed on the opposite side 
of a plate from the one to which the heat is applied. 

Small pieces of solder may be more easily picked up 
with the tweezers, if laid on something soft, like a piece 
of buck or chamois skin, or better yet, a little piece of 
printers' roller composition. The points of the tweezers 
pass below the edges of the little pieces and get a firmer 
hold. Rubber is not good, since it contains sulphur. 

When through soldering, extinguish the charcoal thor- 
oughly. Disastrous fires sometimes re-sult from forgotten 
pieces of burning charcoal. 

To prevent oxidation in holes in the work, that in gold 
may destroy the color, or may damage screw threads, it 
is of advantage to tamp them full of charcoal dust. 

7 



50 HARD SOLDERING. 

Beware of throwing the sharp pointed flame on thin 
edges. 

Articles to be repaired sometimes have stones set in 
them in such a manner that it is inconvenient to remove 
tliem. The workman should remember that these brittle 
substances expand with heat; that if any portion is sud- 
denly raised to a higher temperature than the rest, that 
portion expands and breaks from the cooler portion, either 
by cracking or flaking off. The heat then must be applied 
gradually, and in such a manner that the stone will be 
heated evenly and slowly. To assist in preserving an 
even temperature, all grease or dirt must be removed, and 
thin slices of raw apple or potato bound on the exposed 
portion of the stone. It keeps the flame off, and by the 
moisture contained equalizes the temperature. 

Diamonds should be removed. When heated very hot 
they fuse and unite with the oxygen of the air, forming 
carbonic acid gas, which is too common to be considered 
valuable. 

All stones composed of alumina resist the heat. These 
are the sapphire, oriental ruby, oriental topaz, oriental 
emerald, oriental amethyst, and adamantine spar. Those 
composed of quartz also resist the heat. They are rock 
crystal, amethyst, false topaz, prase, chrysopvase, cornel- 
ian, sard, the agates, onyx and heliotrope. Avoid heat- 
ing jet, pearls and all ornaments of shell, ivory, bone or 
celluloid, unless you can keep them immersed in water. 

In putting together thin pieces, which, when a perfect 
job is accomplished, will leave an inclosed space, a small 
hole should be made in one of the pieces. The air inside 



TECHNICAL NOTES. 51 

will be much rarefied by the heat, and the solidifying of 
the solder while hot may from the pressure of the air, 
cause it to collapse. The little hole also allows the in- 
closed air to escape through it while being heated, and 
prevents the parts from being displaced by the expansion 
of the air. 

The heat necessary in hard soldering anneals all metals 
in common use, except steel when suddenly cooled. Other 
metals are rehardened by hammering, rolling, drawing or 
twisting. Plates are most commonly hardened by ham- 
mering. Articles constructed partly of wire, as a pin 
tongue, may be hardened by twisting. The softer places 
yield to the torsion, and thereby become hard. Steel sol- 
dered with 18 carat gold may be heated to a low red heat, 
sufficient to harden if done with care. If soldered with 
silver solder, they may be hardened with a stream of 
water while yet hot after the flow of the solder. When 
any portion of steel work is to be hard, a stream of water 
from the wash-bottle applied to that part while red hot 
will harden it, leaving the rest soft. When steel is to be 
soft it should not be removed from the coal until black, 
but be allowed to cool gradually. 

Some workmen fuse the borax and reduce it to a powder 
before using, to prevent it from expanding and displacing 
parts at the first heat. 

For very delicate work, the hard solder may be filed in- 
to dust, mixed with the borax and applied all at once. 

It is not worth while to spend time trying to hard sol- 



52 HARD SOLDERING. 

der pieces of burnt iron, in which the interior of the metal 
is oxidized. The solder will sometimes flow on the out- 
side where the borax deoxidizes it, but seldom will flow 
through the joint. 

If an article has been soft soldered and it is desirable 
to hard solder it, the soft solder must be entirely removed 
by cutting or scraping it oflf. If when it was soldered 
with soft solder it was heated too much, the soft solder 
may have formed a new and very fusible alloy with the 
body of the work, in which case it is dangerous to attempt 
to use hard solder. When that is the case, the new alloy 
formed is more brittle and feels gritty when scraped. 
Consequently when scraping ofi" the soft solder if the 
metal beneath the soft solder feels gritty, and continued 
scraping does not remove the gritty metal, it will be dan- 
gerous to attempt to hard solder. But if the soft solder 
when scraped oflf leaves the metal at the joint as soft as 
the rest, there will be little danger in hard soldering, if 
the soft solder be entirely removed. 

In the foregoing work, the plain, old-fashioned blowpipe, 
lamp, (fcc, have been described, and the process conducted 
with articles easily obtainable. It is expected that the 
reader will adopt anything more convenient, if practicable. 
Excellent apparatus is now ofl"ered in the line of automatic 
lamps, blowers, prepared chemicals, &c., notwithstanding, 
I would recommend every young man to learn in such a 
way as to be independent of every unnecessary article. 
After having learned, he may make the work easier by 
my means practicable. 



Nickel, - 


8.80 


Platinum, 


- 21.50 


Silver, 


10.50 


Tin, 


- 7.29 


Zinc, 


7.10 



CHAPTER IX. 
PROPHR.XIHS OF MEXAI^vS. 

Table of the specific gravity of metals at 60^ Fahren- 
heit, or 15.5° Centigrade: 
Aluminum, - 2.60 

Bismuth, - - 9.90 
Copper, - - 8.96 

Gold, - - - 19.50 
Iron, - - - 7.79 

Lead, - . - 11.45 

The figures show the number of cubic inches of water 
necessary to balance one cubic inch of the respective 
metals. 

Tenacity of metals is ascertained by observing the 
weights required to break wires drawn through the same 
orifice. They stand in the following ratio: 
Iron, - - - 269 Gold, - - - 68 
Copper, - - - 157 Tin, - - - - 24 
Platinum, - - 124 Zinc, - - - 12 
Silver, - - - 85 

The different metals become fusible, or melt, according 
to Prof. Daniel's pyrometer, at the following degrees of 
temperature : 



64 HARD SOLDERINQ. 




METAL. FAHRENHEIT. ' 


CENTIGR> 


Bismuth, ... - 


497 


258 


Copper, 


1996 


1091 


Gold, ... - 


2016 


1102 


Iron, cast, . - - . 


2786 


1530 


Lead, . _ . . 


617 


325 


Nickel and Iron, wrought, high- 






est heat of forge. 






Platinum, not fusible in ordi- 






nary furnaces. 






Silver, - - - - 


1873 


1023 


Tin, 


442 


228 


Zinc, 


773 


412 



Alloys of metals vary from the mean melting point of 
the metals of which they are composed. They usually 
melt at a lower degree of temperature than the mean, and 
sometimes at a lower degree than either of the metals of 
which they are composed, as for instance, tin solder, com- 
posed of two parts tin and one of lead, melts at about 
360° F. A hard solder, composed of two-thirds silver 
and one-third spring brass, melts easier than either the sil- 
ver or the brass. 



INDEX. 



ANTI-OXIDIZER 19, 20 

ALLOYS, HARD SOLDER .'. 14 

BINDING WIRE 12 

BLOWPIPE 9, 10. 30, 3l", 32 

BORAX 13 

BRAZING 40 

CAPACITY FOR HEAT 27 

CHARCOAL 9 

CHROMIC ACID 43, 44 

COLOR, GOLD 43, 44 

CONDUCTION OF HEAT [ 26 

FLAME, STRUCTURE OF 21 

FLAME, REDUCING 23 

FLAME, OXIDIZING 22 

FLUXES 19 

FUSIBILITY OF METALS 54 

FUSIBILITY OF ALLOYS 64 

GOLD, COLOR 43, 44 

GOLD SOLDER 17 

HARD SOLDER ALLOYS 14 

HARDENING METALS 51 

HEAT ..25 

HEAT, CAPACITY FOR 27 

HEAT, CONDUCTION OF 26 

HEAT, APPLICATION OF 35, 47 

HEAT, PREVENTING LOSS OF 48 

JOINTS 84, 46 

LAMP 8 



56 



HARD SOLDERING. 



OXIDATION 18 

OXIDIZING FLAME 22 

PICKLE, SILVERSMITH'S 43 

PLUMBAGO 33 

PRECIOUS STONES 60 

REDUCING FLAME 23 

SILVER SOLDER 16, 16 

SILVERSMITH'S PICKLE 43 

SOLDER, GOLD 17 

SOLDER, SILVER 15, 16 

SOLDER, HARD ALLOYS 14 

SPECIFIC GRAVITY 53 

SPELTER, 14 

STEEL SPRINGS 46 

STRUCTURE OF FLAME 21 

SWEATING METALS 46 

WASH-BOTTLE 10. 11 



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CONTENTS. 

WORKSHOP RECEIPTS, FIRST SERIES. 



Bookbinding' : tools and materials, pressing the sheets, sewing, cut- 
ting and forwarding, making cases and covers, ornamenting the edges, 
head-banding, casing in leather or cloth, finishing and gilding, binding a 
book without tools, marbling book edges. 

Bronzes and Bronzing : for gas fittings, mathematical and other 
scientific instriiments, copper utensils, such as tea-urns, coffee-pots, and 
the like, gun barrels, iron, brass, statuary, wood, and paper. 

Candles and Candle Making : treatment of the raw materials, 
tallow boiling, new methods of rendering, neutralizing effluvia, clarifying 
and hardening, new materials, bleaching, wicks, dips, moulds, transpar- 
ent, diaphane, composite, sperm and ozokerite candles. 

Concrete : for foundations, masonry, brickwork, hydraulic work. 

Drawing Office Details : drawing paper, directions for mounting 
drawings, fastening paj^er on drawing board, cutting pencils, erasing errors, 
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passes, pencilling, finishing drawings, lettering, borders, Indian ink, 
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Electro-Metallurgy : preparatory cleaning of copper and its alloys 
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cleaning zinc, lead, tin, cast iron, wrought iron, steel; galvanic batteries, 
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copper baths for iron and steel, tin, east iron, zinc, and silver; brass de- 
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pewter; tin deposits, tinning baths, iron or zinc, whitening by tin; gold 
deposits, gilding by dipping, preparation of gold baths, colouring processes, 
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gold, gold electro-plating, graining and gilding watch parts, gilding thin 
wires for bullion, gilding various metals, recovery of gold from gilt articles; 
silver deposits, whitening with silver, plated silver, plating with silver foil, 
cold silvering, silvering for reflectors, silvering by dipping in hot or cold 
baths, silver electro-plating baths, preparation, constitution, working and 
care for every article in the trade, small baths for amateurs, lustres, resists, 
reserves, burnishing, old silvering, oxidized silvering, nielled silver; plati- 
num plating, nickel plating; zinc deposits; iron and steel deposits; antimo- 
ny deposits; lead deposits; galvanoplasm, or thick deposits* deposits on 
non-metallic articles; and many other modern electro-metallurgical re- 
ceipts that we have not space to enumerate. 

Enamels : for pottery, porcelain, and porcelain painting. 

Engraving : the gravers and other tools employed in the art, method 
of use, materials, instructions, and application to wood, copper, gold, sil- 
ver, steel, and stone. 

Etching : apparatus employed, preijaration of grounds, varnishes, 
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FIRST SERIES. 



etching on steel, iron, and glass. 

Firework Making: complete details as to the preparation and 
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Fluxes : for metallurgical and other purposes. 

Foundry Mixtures : yellow-red, common and hard brass, britannia 
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Furniture Polishes : creams, oils, lacquers, and pastes, timber 
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Gilding : oil gilding, burnished or water gilding, japanners' gilding; 
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re-gilding frames, gilding book-edges, illumination. 

Glass Making : flint-glass, crown-glass, bottle or green glaf-s, plate- 
glass, window-glass, colours for glass, water-glass, glass cutting, cleaning, 
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Glass Painting and Staining : the glass colours employed, ap- 
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of firing, compositions for the stains, fluxes, enamels, etching, and deaden- 
ing colour; painting on glass for the magic lantern, pigments for magic 
lantern slides. 

Gold : amalgam, artificial mixtures. 

Graining : the colours and the quantity to be used in the imitation 
^f all kinds of fancy woods, marbles, granite, and the like. 

Gums : mucilage, artificial, or British. 

Horn Working : mother-o'-pearl, and like substances. 

Indiarubber Cements: varnishes, and solvents. 

Japans: preparation of various articles for japan; black, white, blue, 
red. yellow, green, orange, purple, and tortoiseshell japan and grounds; 
painting and varnishing japan work, tunbridge ware; carriage japanning. 

Lacquer : preparing brass for lacquering, re-lacquering brass-work, 
lacquer for tin, lacquer for philosophical instruments. 

Leather : belting, preserving, dyeing, gilding and varnishing, luir- 
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top hquids. 

Lubricants : anti-friction grease, railway grease, anti-attrition paste, 
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Marble Working: selecting marble; cutting, hewing, and sawing 
marble; polishing, mounting, veneering with marble on wood and on 
metals, sculpture, removing stains, restoring colour, and repairing. 

Mortars : for building purposes. 

Painting : in oils, in water colours, as \veU as fresco, house, trans- 
parency, sign and carriage painting. 

Paper Hanging : instructions for practising. 

Photography : operating rooms, backgrounds, general instructions 
for taking photographs, dark rooms; the camera, lenses, combination 
lenses, focus, glass frames, photograpjhic glasses, argentometer: the collo- 
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FIBST SERIES. 



directions for the making and use of the mixtures and solutions employed 
m coating with collodion, exposure, developing, fixing, and varnishing 
collodion negatives; printing process, positive paper, albumenized paper, 
plain paper, preparing the j^aper, printing, toning, fixing, washing, 
mounting, varniching cartes, defects in prints, stopping-out negatives, 
fviews, landscapes, copying pictures; Sutton's wet collodion process; 
Ryley's collodio-albumen process; England's process; collodio-bromide 
process; autotype processor carbon printing; gum and gallic acid process; 
photo-crayon jportraits; diaphanotypes ; ivorytj'pes; heliotypes; photo- 
graphs in pigments; dry collodion process; collodio-albumen process; 
honey process; tannin process; enlarging negatives, stereoscopic views, 
transparent positives, magic lantern slides, photo-lithography. 

Pottery : the composition, selection, and preparation of all kinds of 
clays, bodies, glazes, colours, j)rinting oils, stains, fluxes, enamels and 
lustres. 

Polishes : ingredients, mixing and application to all kinds of wood, 
metal, ivory, horn, and tortoiseshell. 

Silvering : glass, metal, wood, paper, and porcelain. 

Soap : the various oils, fats, and chemicals used in the trade ; j)re- 
paration of leys, heating pans and kettles; boiling soap, cutting-up the 
pan, clear boiling, marbling, quahties of soajjs ; instructions and quanti- 
ties given for household soaps, hard, tallow, resin, tallow resin, palm-oil 
and soft soaps, toilet soaps, Windsor, honey, musk, glycerine, almond, vio- 
let, bouquet, rose, cinnamon, lavender, orange-flower, rondeletia, flowers 
of erin, primrose, iodine, mercurial, sulphur, antimonial, shaving soaps 
and essences, soap balls. 

Solders : and soldering. 

Tanning : preparation of the skins, and the tanning liquids ; tan- 
ning hides, calf skins, sheep skins, morocco leather, russia leather, nets, 
skins with the wool on, sole leather, small skins. 

Taxidermy : the skinning, preservation, stuffing, and effectual pre- 
paration, of the skins of birds and animals to preserve their natural 
appearance. 

Tempering : hardening, and general treatment of tools. 

Varnishes ; buildings necessaiy for a varnish manufactory, erecting 
and fitting; set, gum, and boiling pots; boiling linseed oil, making var- 
nish on a small scale; copal, virgin copal, coachmakers' varnishes, wain- 
scot varnish, japanners gold size, coachmakers' black varnish, asphalte 
varnish, black japan, pale amber, brunswick black, spirit varnishes of 
every description; furniture, picture, photographers', transfer, gold, and 
eather varnishes. 

Veneering : with stone, marble, and woods. 

Washing and Scouring : articles of dress, lace, and shawls. 

Waterproofing. 

Welding. 

Whitewashing ; preparation of the surface to be whitewashed, 
mixing and proportions of the wash, ai3plication, tinting. 

Besides Keceipts relating to the lesser Technological matters and pro- 
cesses, such as the manufacture and use of crayons, paste, putty, wax, 
size, alloj's, catgut, picture frame and architectural mouldings, composi- 
tion, cameos, galvanizing iron, tinning, enamelling slate, and others too 
'Qumerous to mention. 



CONTENTS. 

WORKSHOP RECEIPTS, SECOND SERIES. 

Acidimetry and Alkalimetry: ready means of estimating iue 
acidity and alkalinity of liquids. 

Albumen: occurrence, characters, composition, impurities, qualities, 
uses, coagulation, restoration to coagulable state; full details of manufact- 
ure of Blood albumen. Egg albumen, Fish albumen, and Vegetable albu- 
men, with suggestions as to new sources. 

Alcohol: sources; synopsis of manufacture of Caustic alcohol (sodium 
ethylate), and alcohol from Fruit, Grain, Molasses, Moss, and Koots; recti- 
fication; and Wood alcohol (pyroxylic spirit). 

Alkaloids: general methods of preparation; special methods for 
Aconitine, Atropine, Berberine, Brucine, Calumbine, Cascarilline, Colchi- 
cine, Morphine, Narcotine, Nicotine, PiiJerine, Quinine (including amor- 
phous c[uinine and quinetum), Salicine, Strj^chnine, and Veratrine. 

Baking-powders : general remarks on true value and essential con- 
ditions, and many recipes for their preparation. 

Bitters : recipes for Amazon, Angostura, Aromatic, Boker's, Brandy, 
Essence, French Cognac, Hamburg, Nonpareil, Orange, Peruvian, Spanish, 
Stomach, Stoughton, and Wild Cherry bitters. 

Bleaching : recipes for bleaching and decolorizing Albumen, Animal 
fibres. Coral, Cotton, Esparto, Feathers, Guttapercha, Hair, Ivorj^ Jute, 
Linen, Oils and Fats, Paper pulp, Paraffin, Eags, Shellac, Silk, Silver 
dials. Sponge, Starch, Straw, Wax, Wool. 

Boiler Incrustations : numerous analyses of feed waters from 
rivers, lakes, w^ells, town supply, rain, canals, pits, sj^rings, and the sea, 
with analyses of the incrustations produced by them, and a critical 
examination of the various chemical, chemico-mechanical and j^hysical 
processes for preventing boiler corrosion. 

Cements and Lutes : general directions for the preparation and 
application of cements and lutes; numerous recipes under the following 
heads, — Acidproof, Alabaster, Algerian, Almond paste. Amber, Aquarium, 
Architectural, Armenian or Diamond, Badigeon, Bottle, Brimstone, Buck- 
land's, Canada balsam. Cap, Casein, Chemical, Chinese glue. Chrome, 
Coppersmiths', Corks, Crucible, Curd, Cutlers', Dextrine, Egg, Elastic, 
Engineers', Fat, Fireproof, French, Glass, Glass to Metals, Glue (includ- 
ing Fish glue, Lapland glue. Liquid glue. Mouth or Lip glue. Portable 
glue). Glycerine, Gum Arabic, Gum tragacanth, Hensler's, Indiarubber, 
Iron, Isinglass, Ivory, Japanese, Jewellers', Kerosene h^mps. Labels, Lab- 
oratory, Lead, Leather, Mahogany, Marble, Marine glue, Masons , Meer- 
schaum, Metal to glass, stone, etc.. Microscopical, Milk, Naturalists', 
Opticians', Parabolic, Parian, Paris, Paste, Peasley, Plasters, Plumbers', 
Porcelain, Putty, SeaHng-wax, Shellac, Soluble glass, Sorel's, Steam, Stone. 
Turners', Waterjjroof, Wollaston's, Wood, Zeiodelite. 

^ Cleansing : a complete selection of recipes for washing, cleaning, 
scouring, purifying, and removing stains, arranged under the following 
heads,— Brass, Bronze, Casks, Celluloid, Chip bonnets, Coins, Copper ves- 
sels. Druggists' utensils. Engravings, Feathers, Fire-arms, Floors, Fur, 
Gas chandeliers. Gilt mountings. Gilt picture frames, Glass (bottles, 
globes, plates, slides, paint stains, windows), Gloves, Gold, Iron and Steei, 
Ivory and Bones, Leather, Marble, Mirrors, Oilcloth, Paint, Paintbrushes, 



SECOND SERIES. 



Paintings, Parchment, Sheepskin mats, Silver, SiDonge, Stains removing 
(anihne, fruit and wine, grease and oil, ink and ironmould, lime and Ij'es, 
mildew, milk and coffee, paint and varnish, stearin, tannin, tar and axle- 
grease). Stills, Stones, Stuffed animals, Teajjot, Textile fabrics (English 
and French cleaning and scouring, cleaning with benzine, apparatus used, 
methods of operation for ancient tapestry, carpets, cloth, curtains, and 
bed furniture, dresses, flannel, hearthrugs, lace, shawls and scarves, 
sheepskin rugs and mats, silk goods, table covers), Tobacco jiipes. Vellum, 
Violins, Violin bows. Wall papers. Zinc vessels. 

Confectionery : the confectioners' stove, clarification of sugar, boil- 
ing degrees of sugar; methods of making Cakes (Bordeaux, pound, Italian 
bread, Savoj', wafers), Candied sugar (chain, crystallized chocolate, crys- 
tallized fi'uits, liqueur rings), Candy (artificial fruit and eggs, burnt 
almonds, coconut ice, coltsfoot candy, filberts and pistachios, ginger can- 
dy, lemon prawlings, orange prawdings, pejDpermint, lemon and rose 
candy, plum candy, sweetflag candy), Chocolate (roasting, making, drojDs, 
harlequin jjistachios, cinnamon, mace, clove, stomachic, and vanilla choco- 
late), jComfits (almond, barberry, caraway, cardamom, celery, cherry, 
cinnamon, clove, colouring, corainder, flavoured with liqueurs, ginger, 
lemon peel or angelica, nonpareils, orange, raspberry). Crack, and Cara- 
mel (acid drops and sticks, almond hardbake, almond rock, barley sugar 
drops and tablets, brandy balls, clove, ginger, or pejDpermint rock, extract- 
ing the acid from candied drops, nogat, rasj^berry rock or sticks, spinning, 
almond baskets, Chantilly baskets, gold web, grape, orange or cherry bas- 
kets, raspberry rock, rock sugar, silver web) Drops (catechu, chocolate, 
cinnamon, clove, coffee, ginger, lemon, orange-flower, orgeat, pepi^ermint 
raspberry, rose, vanilla, violet). Ices (apparatus, freezing, almond or orgeat 
ice cream, apple water ice, apricot water ice, barberry, biscuit cream, brown 
bread ice, burnt almond ice cream, burnt ice cream, cherry water ice, 
chestnut ice, chocolate ice, coffee Ice cream, cream ice, currant ice, currant 
water ice, custard for ices, custard ices, damson ice, filbert ice cream, gin- 
ger ice, gooseberry water ice, lemon ice cream, lemon water ice, liqueur 
cream ice, liqueur water ice, millefruitice cream, millefruit water ice, noyau 
cream ice, orange ice cream, orange water ice, peach ice, peach water ice, 
pineapple ice, pineapple water ice. pistachio ice cream, punch water ice, 
raspberry ice, raspberry water ice- ratafia cream, Eoman jjunch ice, straw- 
berry ice, strawberry water ice, Swiss j^udding, tea ice, vanilla ice). Loz- 
enges (bath pipe, brilliants, catechu, cinnamon, clove, coltsfoot, ementine, 
ginger, ipecacuanha, lavender, magnesia, marshmallow,nitre, nutmeg, patta 
rosa, peppermint, refined liquorice, rhubarb, rose, saffron, sponge, steel, 
sulphur, tolu, vanilla, worm, yellow pectoral, zinc). 

Copying- : obtaining copies of printed and written matters by 
Chemical methods (including cyaiiotype or ferro-prussiate pai)er, cyano- 
ferric or gommoferric paper, Joltrain's, Beneden's, Dietrich's, autoscoi)ic, 
Tilhet's, Zuccato's, Pumphrey s, AVaterlow's, hectograph or chrom jgrajjh, 
Magne's, "Willis's, Poitevin's, Woodbury's, photo-lithographic, Niepee's, 
Ehrard's, Fox Talbot's, Scamoni's, Nuth's, phototypy, Michaud's, chromo- 
type, Lenoir's, Warnerke's, Edwards' heliotype, Watcrhouse's, Ahssoff's 
polygraphic, Asser's, Komaromy's, and numerous other processes); by 
Mechanical methods (embracing stencils of various kinds, tracing on cloth, 
tracing-cloth, and other recipes) , Cojn'ing Pencils ; 'J'ransf erring (photo- 
gi-aphs to wood, engravings to pai:)er, transfer process on glass). 

Disinfectants : the preparation and characters of all the substances 
hitherto proposed as deodorizers, disinfectants, or antiseptics, with com- 
parative tables of results according to different authorities, and discussions 



SECOND SERIES. 



on the advantages and disadvantages of the disinfectants now before the 
public. • 

Dyeing, Staining*, and Colouring : containing a most compre- 
hensive collection of new and approved recipes, under the following 
heads— Calico-printing, in chrome standard, discharge stj'le (blacks, blues, 
whites, yellows), indigo effects (direct indigo blues, lapis resists, combined 
indigo and madder effects, white reserves, white resists, orange reserves, 
yellow reserves, blues, and white, red, green and yellow, green, and yel- 
low discharges on vat-blues), madder colours (blacks, browns, chocolate, 
drab, purples, reds, whites), manganese bronze style, padding style, pig- 
ment style, plate style, reserve style, spirit colour style (blues, browns, 
chocolate, greens, pinks, purj^les, reds, yellows), steam colours (amber, 
blacks, blues, browns, buff, chocolates, cinnamon, drab, greens, greys, 
lavender, lilac, orange, pinks, purples, reds, violets, yellows); China grass; 
Cotton (blacks, blues, browns, chocolate, claret, drabs, greens, gi'eys, olive, 
oranges, purples, reds, violets, yellows) ; Encaustic colours; Feathers; Flow- 
ers, Grasses, and Mosses; Hats (beaver, cream, fawn, mouse, rose, slate, 
cinnamon) ; Horn (blacks, greens, purples, red, tortoise8hell,yeilow) ; Horse- 
hair (blue, brown, red); Ivory (blacks, blues, browns, greens, reds, yel- 
lows), vegetable ivor5^;Kid gloves (blacks, browns, Russia red, grey, violet, 
yellow); Leather (blacks, blues, browns, russets, reds, yellows, greens, 
violets, purples, crimson); Metals (brass, bronze, gold, gun-metal, iron 
and steel, silver, zinc) ; Paper (ambers, blues, browns, buffs, chocolates, 
crowfoot, fawns, greens, greys, lilacs, Nankeen tissue, olives, oranges, 
pinks, reds, roses, skin colour, straw tint, violet, white tissue, yellows); 
Parchment; Silk (blues, greens, magentas, maroons, pansy, scarlets, vio- 
lets, yellows); Straw; Whitewashing, calcimining, or distemper; Wine; 
Wood (blacks, blackboard washes, blues, browns, ebonizing, floors, greens, 
greys, mahogany, oaks, purples, reds, satinwood, violet, walnut, yellows); 
Wool (amaranth, blacks, blues, greens, grenades, greys, maroons, olives, 
oranges, ponceau, puce, reds, violets, wood-colour). 

Essences : Aconite, Allspice, Almonds, Ammoniacum, Anchovy, An- 
gelica, Aniseed, Anodyne, Antihystenc, Aromatic, Bark, Beef, Bitter, 
Camphor, Caraway, Cardamon, Cascarilla, Cassia, Caj^enne, Celery, Chamo- 
mile, Cinnamon, Cloves, Cochineal, Coffee, Coltsfoot, Cubebs, Dill, Ergot, 
Fennel, Fruit (artificial, including apple, aiaricot, banana, blackberry, 
black cherry, cherry, currant, grape, lemon, melon, nectarine, orange, 
peach, pear, pineapple, plum, rasjjberry, strawberry). Ginger, Guaiacum, 
Headache, Hop, Lemon, Lemon-peel, Lovage, Nutmeg, Orange, Orange- 
peel, Pennyroyal, Peppermint, Quassia, Quinine, Eennet, Ehubarb, 'Roy- 
ale, Sarsaparilla, Savory Spices, Soap, Soup Herbs, Spruce, Turtle, Water 
Fennel, Westphalian, Wormwood. 

Extracts: preparation; Aconite, Aloes, Angelica, Apples, Belladonna, 
Buchu, Cainca, Calabar Bean, Calumba, Cherry (Wild), Cinchono, Colchi- 
cum, Colocynth, Cotton -root, Cubebs, Ergot, (jentian. Golden Seal, Helle- 
bore, Hops, Jaborandi, Jalap, Juniper, Lactucarium, Lettuce, Lobelia, 
Logwjod, Madder, Male Fern, Malt, Meat, Mezereon, Myrrh, Narcotic, 
Nux Vomica, Opium, Pareira, Pellitoiy, Pinkroot, Poppies, Quassia, Rha- 
tany, Rhubarb, Sarsaparilla, Scammony, Senna, Smoke, Squills, Stillingia, 
Stramonium, Taraxacum, Tobacco, Valerian, Wormseed. 

Fireproofing : Buildings, Extinguishing Compounds, Textile Fab- 
rics, Timber, Writing Materials. 

Gelatine, Glue, and Size : manufacture of glue, manufacture of 
size, drying glue, composition of glue, Characters of glue, selection of 
glue, manufacture of gelatine from bones, Rice's gelatine, Cox s sparkling 



SECOXD SERIES. 



gelatine, HeiTze's gelfitine from neats'-foot-oil residues, Nelson's gelatine, 
comparison of gelatines, preventing nuisance at glue works. 

Glycerine : sources, early processes, Price's method, obtaining 
glycerine from spent lyes of the soapmaker. 

Gut: the preparation of gat for fiddle-strings and sausage-skins; 
silk-worm gut. 

Hydrogen peroxide : manufacture and application. 
Ink : Black writing. Coloured writing, Copjdng, Engraving, Indelible, 
Indian, In\isible or Sympathetic, Marking, Miscellaneous, Printing, and 
Stamping inks. 

Iodine ; manufacture from seaweeds, and from caliche. 
Iodoform : processes for making. 

Isinglass : from fish, and from various kinds of seaweed. 
Ivory substitutes : numerous v/ays of preparing artificial substi- 
tutes for ivory, such as celluloid, etc. 

Leather : Calf-kid, Chamois leather. Currying, Depilatories or Iln- 
hairing. Glove-kid, Imitation leather, Morocco leather. Patent (Japanned 
or Enamelled) leather, Russia leather. 

Luminous bodies: natural phosphorescent substances; artificial 
luminous paints, — Balmain's, Heaton and Bolas', etc. 
Magnesia : new and cheap way of preparing. 

Matches : general sketch of manufacture, especially with regard to 
the ingredients, etc. , of igniting compositions ; Vestas and Vesuvians. 

Paper: selection and assortment of rags; boiling raw materials re- 
cipes for high-class papers; w^ashing and breaking; draining and pressing. 
Astronomical drawing paper, Blottmg paper. Crystalline paper, Decipher- 
ing burnt documents, Filtering-j)aper, Hardening paper, Ii-idescent paper, 
Lithographic paper. Luminous paper, Oiled paper, Packing-paper, Safety- 
paper, Smoothing paper. Splitting a sheet of paper, Test-papers, Tracing- 
paper, Transfer-j)aper, Waxed paper. 

Parchment : preparation of natural parchment, and artificial parch- 
ment or parchment paper; removing wrinkles from jjarchment. 
Perchloric acid : cheap mode of making. 

Pigments, Paint, and Painting : embracing the preparation of 
Pigments, including alumina lakes, blacks (animal, bone, Frankfort, ivory, 
lamp, sight, soot\ blues, browns, greens, reds, whites, — by American, 
Dutch, French, German, Kremnitz, and Pattinson processes, precautions 
in making, and composition of commercial samples, — whiting, Wilkinson's 
white, zinc white), yellows; Prdnt (vehicles, testing oils, driers, grinding, 
storing, applying, priming, drjdng, filling, coats, brushes, surface, water- 
colours, removing smell, discoloration; miscellaneous paints — cement 
paint for carton-pierre, copper, gold, iron, lime, silicated, steatite, trans- 
parent, tungsten, window, and zinc paints); Painfmg (general instructions, 
proportions of ingi-edients, measuring jDaint work; carriage painting — 
priming paint, best putty, finishing colour, cause of cracking, mixing the 
paints, oils, driers, and colours, varnishing, importance of washing 
vehicles, re-varnishing, how to dry paint : woodwork painting. 

Potassium oxalate : new and easy way of making it for photo- 
grai)hic purposes, 

Preserving: charred paper, food (beer, fish; fruit, grain, and vege- 
tables; honey, meat, milk>, fruit-juices, gum, hay, mdiarubber, leather, 
leeches, lemon-juice, Rankin's and Pasteur's fluids, skins and furs, stone, 
textile fabrics, urine, vaccine lymph, wood. 



CONTENTS. 

WORKSHOP RECEIPTS, THIRD SERIES. 



Alloys: components, general principles for making, how to melt 
metals, fluxes, fusibility of metals, order of melting ingredients of alloys, 
table of fusing points, furnaces for melting brass and other alloys, cruci- 
bles for melting alloys, casting mixed metals, right moment for pouring, 
moulding articles in relief, composition for core for difficult jobs. Solders. 
Miscellaneous alloj'S (embracing compounds for friction bearings, steam- 
whistles, cylinders, taps, valve-boxes, pistons, mathematical instruments, 
rivets, pinchbeck, tombac, electrotypes, bullet metal, pin wire, flute-keys; 
composition of various Japanese and other bronzes, ancient coins, rings, 
figures, implements, pins; manufacture and ornamentation of Japanese 
bronzes; inoxidizable alloys, soft alloy for cold soldering, alloys for small 
articles, white alloy, alloy for medals and coins, amalgam for coating 
jDlastic eastings, anti-friction alloys, sterro-metal, bismuth bronze. 

Aluminium: properties, manufacture, applications. 

Antim.ony. Barium. Berryllium. Bismuth. Cadmium. Ccesium. 
Calcium. Cerium. Chromium. Cobalt. 

Copper: properties, cleaning ore, crushing, jigging, huddling; dry 
methods of treating ores— German, English (including furnaces and 
details of working) ; wet method; hardening and toughening the metal; 
common impurities and their influence; characters of pure electrical cop- 
l^er wire; tubes, bending; welding copper. 

Electrics: Alarms: examples of house alarms, tell-tales for cisterns 
and boilers, time signals, and tell-tale clocks, their construction and fix- 
ture. Batteries : constitution of a battery ; making batteries ; zinc plates, 
forming cylinders, amalgamating with mercury, attaching; negative ele- 
ments; exciting fluids; separating the elements; containing cells con- 
struction, arrangement, cost, peculiarities, and apj^lications of various 
forms of battery. Bells: the apparatus employed; choice and arrange- 
ment of battery, circuit wire, circuit closer and bell; systems of establish- 
ing bells. Carbons. Coils, (induction, intensity, resistance). Dynamo- 
electric machines, principles and methods of construction. Microphones. 
Motors: principles and practice of construction. Phonograph. Photo- 
phone. Storage: the storage and reproduction of electric energy, con- 
struction, charging, maintenance, effectiveness and cost. Telephone: 
principles underlying their action, various forms, — the string telephone, 
Kennedy's, Thompson's, Gower's, their construction and arrangement, 
with hints on making calls, augmenting sound, cheap magnets, circuits, 
transmitter and switch. 

Enamels and Glazes: enamelling cloth, leather, metals. Glaz- 
ing pottery, — composition of the glazes, their preparation and application. 
Enamelling on wood. 

Glass: breaking, coating on metals; colored, — transparent and 
opaque tinted glass, preparation of the pigments and stains. Engraving, 
etching, frosting, and gilding. Ornamentation processes on glass, — adding 
stars, coils of thread, colored casings, metallic plates, grains of colored 
glass, iridescence, frosting, and etchings in gold leaf on finished 
glass, eroding glass surfaces, colored photographs on glass, protecting 
glass surfaces from effects of heating and cooling, roughening glass, spun 
glass (its production properties and uses,) stoppering glass bottles, writing 



THIBD SERIES. 



on glass — preparing the surface and compounding the writing fluids. 

Gold: distribution, modes of occurrence, methods of extraction, 
amalgamation^ refining, properties of gold. 

Indium. Iridium. 

Iron and Steel: decorating, malleable iron, melting, tempering 
iron and steel, — effects of hardening, causes of hanlening, influence of 
carbon, influence of temperature, classifying steels, testing steels and 
irons, hardening and tempering defined, heat tests, heating steel, fuel for 
heating, quenching, degrees of temper, cracking and splitting, burning, 
modifications of dipping, annealing, recijies (case-hardening, wrought 
iron, axle arms, prussiate of jDotash process, cutters, files, gi-avers, ham- 
pers, lathe mandrel, mill-picks, mining picks, saws, springs, taps and 
jlies, tools generally); welding, — conditions, heating, fluxes, selection of 
iron, nature of welding, recipes for welding steels, irons, cast iron, spring- 
jjlates, etc. 

Lacquers and Lacquering*: brass, bronze, brnnswick black, cop- 
per, gold, iron and steel, Japanese and Chinese lacquers. 

Lead: sources, the ore-hearth, reverberatory furnaces, blast fur- 
naces, precipitation, slag melting, Met methods of extraction, softening, 
desilverizing, sheet lead, lead pipe, shot. 

Lubricants: friction defined, characteristics of an efficient lubri- 
cant, viscosity and gumming of oils, fire-testing mineral oils, flashing- 
points, igniting-points, and burning-points. Formulae for lulnicants, 
axle-greases, railway grease, waggon grease. 

Magnesium. Manganese. Mercury. Mica. Molybdenum. 

Nickel: ores, processes of extraction, treating sulphides, treating 
arsenides, treating very poor ores worked for other metals, i^roi)erties and 
uses of nickel. 

Niobium. Osmium. Palladium. Platinum. Potassium. Rhodium. 
Rubidium. Ruthenium. 

Selenium; how found, commercial sources, preparation from native 
copper lead selenide, from sulphuric acid chamber and flue deposits where 
seleniferous sulphur or pyrite is burned, and from the flue-dust of lead 
desilverizing works, propertes. 

Silver: occurrence, ores, extraction by amalgamation processes, ex- 
traction bj" cupellation and eliquation, purification of commercial silver. 

Slag*; the production of blast furnace slag, its composition, purposes 
to which it may be api)lied, including road-metal, castings, paving-blocks, 
bottle-glass, shingle, sand, cement, mortar, bricks, artificial stone, mineral 
wool, insulating, manure, and casting-beds. Arrangement of the Cleve- 
land Slag Works, analyses of Finedon, Cleveland, Hematite, Bessemer, 
Dowlais, and Dudley slags, Portland cement, slag concrete bricks, slag 
cement, gypsum and puzzolanas. 

Sodium. Strontium. Tantalum. Terbium. Thallium. Thorium. 

Tin: ores, cleaning and sorting the ore, stamping the ore, calcining 
the ore, washing the roasted ore, smelting the black tin, refining, utiliza- 
tion of scrap tin, properties and uses. 

Titanium. Tungsten. Uranium. Vanadium. Yttrium. 

Zinc: ores; extraction of the metal, calcining for oxidation, smelting 
the oxide by the Belgian, English and Silesian methods. 

Zirconium. 

Aluminium: discussion of the merits of several newly proposed 
methods for cheapening the production of the metal. 



CONTENTS 

WORKSHOP RECEIPTS, FOURTH SERIES. 



Waterproofing: — Rubber Goods; spreading the rubber, recovering 
naptha from the solution, varnishing fabrics, elastic fabrics. Cupram- 
monium, zinc-ammonium and similar preparations, Willesden fabrics. 
Miscellaneous vaterjjroofing preparations. 

Packing" and Storing; glass and china, deliquescent salts, ex- 
plosives, flowers, articles of delicate odor. 

Embalming": corpses and anatomical specimens. 

Leather Polishes: liquid and paste blackings, dubbings, and 
glosses for harness, boots, and jjatent leather. 

Cooling: — Air; by mechanical means, by evaporation, by ice, by 
underground channels. Cooling and Freezing Water; by solution of 
solids, by evaporation of liquids, by expansion of gases. Cooling syrujis, 
solutions, etc. 

Pumps and Siphons: — Pumps; pulleys, windlasses, levers, troughs, 
swapes, bucket wheels, screws, scoops, and pumjDS for raising water; acid 
pumps, syrup pumps, soap and lye pumps. Sii^hons; of glass and metal. 

Dessicating: air-ovens, water-ovens. 

Distilling: water, tinctures, extracts, camphor, essential oils, flowers. 

Emulsifying: pharmaceutical and iDhotograjDhic emulsions. 

Evaporating: general principles; saline solutions, saccharine 
liquors, glycerine. Acids, —in leaden, glass and j^latinum vessels. 

Filtering: — Water : Ijy using gravel and sand, charcoal, iron, mag- 
nesia, porous pottery, cellulose, and sponge as filtering media; filtering 
cisterns. Laboratory filters for pharmaceutical, chemical, photographic 
and other purposes. Filters for liquids demanding special conditions: 
gelatinous fluids, liquids affected by air, lime muds from soda causticisers, 
syrups and oils. 

Percolation: macerating and filtering by displacement. 

Electrotyping; apparatus and fittings, preparing the form, pre- 
paring the moulding pan, blackleading, stopping out, the deposit, trim- 
ming and bevelling, mounting, picking. 

Stereotyping: -Plaster process; apparatus, preparing the metal, 
preparing the form, casting the plate, cooling the cast, knocking-out the 
plate, flattening the plate, turning to uniform thickness, planing the back, 
bevelhng and squaring, mounting, perfecting. Paper Process; supple- 
mentary remarks. 

Bookbinding: folding, beating and rolling, collating, marking up 
and sawing in; sewing, forwarding, pasting up, pasting on the end papers, 
trimming, gluing up, rounding, backing, millboards, drawing in and 
pressing, cutting, coloring the edges, gilt edges, head banding, covering, 
pasting do\\n, hand-finishing, blocking, calf colouring. 

Straw-plait, ]\Iatting, and Basket-making. 

Musical Instruments: —Pianos: selecting, putting in a string, re- 
pairing sticker-hinge, re-hinging levers, centers sticking, keys sticking, 
blocking, taking to pieces, keys, hammer sticking, pitch, buzzing, faulty 
repetition, renewing j^ins and wires, rusty wires, Celeste pedal. Harmon- 
iums: the case, feeders, valve-boards, feeder-folds, wind-trunks, reser- 
voir, foot-boards, wind-chest. Musical Bdxes. 

Clock and Watch Mending:— Clocks: -eight-day, thirty-hour 



FOURTH SERIES. 



English, spring, nuisical, outdoor, drum, bird, American, German, French. 
Watches: repairing and cleaning, fitting dials, timing watches. 

Photography: Gelatine processes, the gelatine, emulsions, develop- 
ers, intensifiers, stripping film from negatives, remedy for frilling, put- 
ting up jilates, reducing negatives, toning silver citro-chloride prints and 
transparent positives, drying plates, gelatino-bromide film paper, tissue 
negatives from plates. Collodion processes: collodio-citro-chioride 
emulsion, collodio chloride paj)er, example of collodion process, fixing 
silver prints without hyposulphite, permanent silver i)rints, transparen- 
cies, collodion formula, saturated iron solution, iron developers, collodio- 
chloride printing process, intensifying solution for wet-plate negatives, 
developer for very delicate transparencies, durable sensitised paper, 
AVerge's gold toning bath, lime toning bath, collodion enlargements. 
Albumen processes: albumenising pai)er, floating albumenised paper on 
the silver bath, silver printing on albumenised i:)aper, lantern slides on 
albumen, glazing albumenised prints. Miscellaneous, stripping films, 
restoring faded photographs, printing a positive from a positive, reduc- 
ing over-printed i)roofs, photographing by magnesium Light, paper nega- 
tives, photograjDhing paper photographs, a i)liotographic print upon paper 
in five minutes, paper negatives, enlarging on argentic pai^er and opals, 
light for the dark room, mounting prints, papea' pan, testing a lens, 
photographing on wood, silver prints mounted on glass, medallions, 
vitrified photographs, enamel pliotographs, toning, out-door photography, 
negative, bath, varnishes, i^reparing sulphurous acid, instantaneous shut- 
ter, arranging drop-shutters for a variety of lenses, measurement of 
speed of drop-shutters, instantaneous shutter for timed exposures, mak- 
ing photographic exposures in the dark room, dry-plate holder and ox- 
posing case, camera attachment for paper negatives, apjDaratus for instan- 
taneous jjhotography. 

hidex and General Index to Series I to IV 



Each Series possesses its own special value, and the utility of the four 
volumes has been completed by furnishing the fourth with a General 
Index to the whole set. From the great range of subjects dealt with and 
the facility thus afforded for reference, the four series of 'Workshop 
Eeceipts' may be said to constitute in themselves a well-stored library of 
technical information such as no other publication affords. The descript- 
ions and instructions are given in plain language, aided by diagrams 
where necessary; technicalities are exj^lained, and every care has been 
taken to check the quantities, and to make the index a real guide to 
the contents. 



E. & R. N. SPON & CO., 

Publishers, 
12 CORTLANDT STREET, NEW YORK. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 





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